


The Siege of Ba Sing Se

by Vontar



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Drama, Military, OC-centric, Politics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:47:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 24,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21648535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vontar/pseuds/Vontar
Summary: A story told in four seasons of the last year of General Iroh's siege of Ba Sing Se as it turns from a stunning success into a legendary failure. OC-centric, features Lu Ten and Iroh.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	1. Spring

Three hundred days. Nearly the number of days in a year. Enough time for a field of crops to be planted, grow, and then be harvested. In three hundred days, a newborn could walk for the first time.

It took three hundred days for the Outer Wall of Ba Sing Se to fall under the siege of the Fire Nation.

* * *

For Kai, it was a cathartic, almost religious experience. One moment, he, along with thousands of other foot soldiers in the army of General Iroh, Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, were entrenched outside the wall of Ba Sing Se, surrounded by a myriad of siege weapons that fired at an increasingly unstable wall. In the next, like the immense roar of an ancient dragon, there was a cacophony of intense sound, the likes of which Kai had never heard before in his life; it was such that covering up his ears did little to dull the noise. An imposing plume of dust and smoke rushed over the Fire Nation army, and when both the noise and dust had subsided, there was a gash, like a terrible wound that oozed blood in the form of earth, that beckoned to all of the weary Fire Nation soldiers. Behind the wall was like a beautiful promised land with its rich fields of wheat and bright blue sky.

The silence was deafening. Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom soldier alike were completely still from both shock and awe. However, as with any momentous occasion, there was always one person who reacted faster than any other to a great reveal.

“The wall has fallen! The wall of Ba Sing Se has fallen!” The cry came from down the line of where Kai stood. In the next moment, the entire army’s worth of cheers erupted, and almost immediately, the Fire Nation army surged forward across the barren land outside Ba Sing Se’s Outer Wall, with only thoughts of victory and glory on the minds of its soldiers.

“Come on, Kai!” Zheng, one of the other soldiers in Kai’s platoon, yelled. “This is it!”

Excitedly nodding, Kai ran forward with everyone else, spear and shield in hand, as the Fire Nation army poured through the crack in the wall like ants, their red uniforms and armor contrasting with the beige earth of the wall and the green and yellow fields of Ba Sing Se’s vast agrarian zone.

“This is it, men!” Lieutenant Chan yelled, struggling to get his voice to carry over the roar of the massed army. “Remember the objectives! Secure the granaries marked on your maps!” All the men under his command – some twenty-five soldiers – grunted affirmatives and split into their pre-designated subgroups.

Kai, for his part, split off with Zheng and Hui toward the spot marked on their map – it was a storehouse marked just three _li_ from the breach in the wall where the Fire Nation had concentrated its attacks for the last year.

All three soldiers took off at a brisk, yet sustainable marching speed to cross that distance of three _li_ in just under fifteen minutes. When the storehouse came clearly into view, both Kai and Zheng purposely fell behind Hui, letting him lead the way forward. Both Kai and Zheng had their spears ready, while Hui had his arms at the ready in a proper fighting stance.

“Hyah!” Hui grunted, shooting off a burst of flame that knocked down the front door of the storehouse. The only response the three Fire Nation soldiers received was the dust blowing outward from the storehouse, causing all of them to cough and splutter.

Kai strode in, his spear lowered, as he glanced around the dusty storehouse and the assortment of cobwebs that accompanied it. “I don’t think there’s anyone here.”

“Yeah,” Zheng agreed. “Doesn’t look like they’ve used this place for a while either. Map does say this one though.”

“Eh, could be drawn wrong, or just old,” Hui theorized, looking over Zheng’s shoulder to see the map. “I bet these maps were made the last time a Fire Nation envoy or whatever got past the wall of the city, and it’s been like a century since that’s happened.” The firebender looked up at his two comrades. “Any ideas on what we should do?”

Kai shrugged. “Find a different granary? Our battalion needs food and missing out on a granary could be pretty bad down the line. Plus, it doesn’t help if Chan gets on our asses about not finishing the job. Going down the road and looking for another granary doesn’t sound like a terrible idea.”

All three of them could hear Chan’s loud, abrasive voice in their heads already: “ _Why didn’t you three knuckleheads take some initiative for once in your worthless lives?_ _I must be babysitting at the daycare, because you all seem like some weak pansy children that like to sit around all day long instead of working. Now drop and give me a hundred!_ ” The collective experience made them all flinch.

“Sounds good.” “Yeah.” Agreement rang out in the otherwise quiet building, and like that, all three Fire Nation soldiers walked out of the abandoned storehouse, leaving it to its empty, silent fate like it had been for some time before.

After walking just a _li_ down the dirt path, the three came to a stop at another granary – this one, however, had signs of activity inside.

“Shall we try it out?” Kai asked, waving his spear at the building.

“Can’t hurt,” Zheng replied. “Maybe we can get them to share.”

The three walked into the granary and were greeted by the sight of a group of Fire Nation soldiers, four in total, that stood over a huddled family of Earth Kingdom civilians – a man, woman, and a young son and daughter. They were all dressed in the usual fashion of the country with a few green accents, though their clothes were faded and clearly dirty from the work of the field. Two of the Fire Nation soldiers, armed with spears, were standing at guard over the family, while the other two were categorizing the stored wheat and other crops of the granary. One of the soldiers who was helping categorize had laid his spear against the wall of the storehouse, and he now carried a small scroll that he filled out with an ink pen.

“What’s the meaning of this?” one of the men – likely the firebender of the small team – asked, as he saw the three newcomers.

Kai raised a hand, as if to prematurely calm the man. “Our map was out-of-date and the granary we were supposed to get was abandoned. We looked for another and came by yours.”

“And?” one of the men, who looked old enough to be Kai’s father, guarding the family snarled. “This is ours, so get out and find yourselves a nice granary without us inside down the road.”

Hui raised both of his hands disarmingly. “Hey, hey, no need for that now. All the other granaries on this map have teams assigned to them, so we’d go through this with any of them. We just want to make sure our battalion has enough food for the season.”

“Yeah?” the firebender replied. “Well, go do this with some other team then! We don’t want you here.”

“Come on guys, we’re all on the same team here,” Zheng piped up.

Kai could almost see what patience was left in the second soldier – one of the two guarding the family – snapping like a twig under the foot of a fat man. “Same team, huh? Same team?” the soldier barked, striding forward with his spear. “I’ll have you know that I’ve fought at Omashu. All over the west coast. I’ve even come up against some of them Kyoshi warriors. What’s a pipsqueak like you, barely out of diapers and boot, got in common with me? You even wet your noodle before, huh?”

The firebender of the other team and Hui both came forward. “Okay, that’s a bit uncalled for, Hong,” the other firebender said. Hui stood between Zheng and the other team; his eyes narrowed in anticipation, then widened in surprise.

“Watc–” Hui was barely able to utter a sound before he saw the man of the Earth Kingdom family push himself off the ground and shove the last remaining soldier that absentmindedly stood over the family of four. The man dove for the spear that lay against the granary wall but screamed when a small burst of fire engulfed him.

Kai turned his head to see the other team’s firebender in a combat pose, the smoke of his small fireball still emanating from his outstretched hand. He could also see the effects of the fire on the man – the awful burnt red skin, the singed hair and clothes. It put a grimace on Kai’s face. Even if he had seen his fair share of burns growing up in the Fire Nation, it was usually a far cry from the effects of a concentrated burst of fire meant to actually harm another person. And never had he seen it meant for someone’s head in the way that this firebender had intended it to be.

Still, the man went for the spear. Just as his hand closed around the weapon, he grunted in pain as one of the soldiers – the one who had aggressively gone toe-to-toe against Zheng – thrust his spear through the center of the man’s gut. The spear slid through the man and out the other side, carrying on its tip entrails and blood. The red liquid spurted from the man like a fountain of water, spraying the wall of the granary and his own family. The screams of the family were deafening.

“Shut up, or I’ll gut you all too!” the other guard of the family yelled, forcing the mother to clamp her hands on her children’s mouths. Even so, the muffled sounds still echoed in the building.

Kai did a double take at the turn of events and felt an amount of bile rise in his throat. It was the first time he had ever seen a man die in person in his sixteen years. Of course, he had seen people get shot by fire or tumble off the backside of the wall during the three-hundred-day siege of the Outer Wall, but that was a far different sight than the visceral experience before him.

He turned to the kids, who now silently watched their father’s corpse, his innards splattered across the wooden floor, his blood dripping from his gutted remains. Their eyes were wide, as if trying to absorb every facet, every detail of their father’s death. Then the boy turned toward Kai, and the Fire Nation soldier swallowed at the sheer misery and anger that existed in the eyes of a boy so young. They burned with rage at Kai, for the injustice of having seen his own father killed in front of him.

 _We are creating our own enemy_ , a voice faintly echoed in the back of Kai’s mind. But like the dutiful soldier of the Fire Nation that Kai was, he ignored it and helped the other team clean up the carnage.

* * *

Mimi walked behind her charge, as she usually did, with her sword in its sheath and her eyes as alert as a hawk’s. She walked at her usual steady pace, keeping just two or three steps behind the man she followed, and she made sure that no one unexpected followed her. Every now and then, she would selectively tune in to a conversation off to the side, if there were people talking, just in case the conversation seemed unnatural or forced, as if for show. It was all to protect the man in front of her.

“Please, Mimi, there’s nothing to fear here,” Prince Lu Ten of the Fire Nation said with a smile as he turned around. “In the week I’ve known you, I now know it’s normal for you to look around and make sure it’s all safe, but we’re surrounded by Fire Nation troops and the entire region is secured by our forces. It wouldn’t kill you to walk by my side and keep me company through some talk, now would it?”

“Perhaps not, sir,” the bodyguard replied, “but it may kill you. Your father ordered protection for you at all times of the day, and I’ll make sure no harm comes to you.”

Lu Ten sighed. “As always. You know, since that assassination attempt last month, nothing has happened at all. I’m not even sure if the Earth Kingdom will try something like that again, considering how miserably their last assassin failed.”

“That may be, sir,” Mimi responded in her usual deadpan voice. “However, we cannot take that risk. Your father certainly doesn’t believe that they won’t try again, and I don’t intend to let any assassin close enough to try again, sir.”

“And about that ‘sir’ thing, you can drop it, just like I told you the last time – calling me ‘Lu Ten’ is just fine with me. I’m not my father.”

“Yes, sir.”

Lu Ten nodded to himself with a small chuckle. “We’ll get there one day, Mimi. That we will.”

“Of course, sir.” But she could not help let out a small smile out at his boyish persistence.

The pair continued down the path, and after a few minutes, Mimi finally saw Lu Ten’s destination – one of the larger infirmary tents in the camp, positioned near its center for close proximity to both the command tent, which was the heaviest-guarded part of the camp and the elite troops’ barracks.

Lu Ten lifted the entrance flap of the tent, gesturing to Mimi to graciously allow her in first with a smile on his face. Mimi, for her part, did not bother refuting the invitation and dipped her head slightly in acknowledgement and thanks as she slipped into the makeshift infirmary. Each of the cots in the infirmary were curtained off, a sign of luxury on the battlefield that Mimi knew would disappear when the casualties began increasing in open warfare. It was fortunate for the army that while the siege had been long and laborious, it had been light on injuries and deaths until recent days, when it became apparent that the wall was heavily damaged; the Earth Kingdom forces of Ba Sing Se made riskier, larger attacks because of that, leading to a recent uptick in casualties for both sides.

The prince followed soon after Mimi, and soon, a nurse hurriedly came by, handing Lu Ten a binder of medical diagnoses before quickly leaving again. Lu Ten quickly flipped to the first page, taking just a few seconds to scan the page before he handed the binder to Mimi. Heading for the first occupied cot, Lu Ten quickly put on a smile as he slowly pulled back the curtain, which revealed a man whose legs were both fully bandaged up in heavy-looking casts.

“Sir!” the wounded soldier saluted as he saw the prince, attempting to sit up straighter in his bed.

“At ease, Liang,” Lu Ten responded. “How’re the legs? I know getting hit by rocks isn’t fun.”

“Yes, sir,” Liang chuckled. “I’ll be back on my feet in no time.”

Lu Ten squeezed the man’s shoulder as he cheerfully nodded. “I’ll hold you to that,” he said, pointing a finger at the soldier, “and I’ll treat you to a meat bun once you’re out, alright?”

“Sounds great, sir!”

“Get some rest, then.” Lu Ten pulled the curtain closed again, and after he did, he took the binder from Mimi once more and flipped to the second patient.

Mimi looked at the prince with a questioning eye. “Meat buns?”

Lu Ten did not bother to turn back to her as he handed back the binder. “It’s his favorite food.” The prince took a deep breath, then pulled back the curtain on the next cot.

“Hey Chen, how’s the arm? Think you can get back to tip-top shape soon? We could definitely use an archer like you out there!”

* * *

Kai heaved slightly as he sat outside the granary, his back against the storehouse’s wall. They had dragged the body out of the building, which had left a long red stain on the wood of the granary floor, onto the dirt outside. Even now, he could see the man’s feet from where they had dumped the body on the other side of the granary.

“You okay?” Zheng’s voice floated to Kai. He looked up to see his fellow soldier, a small grin on his face and a leather waterskin in his extended hand. Kai gratefully accepted the bag and took a long swig, relishing the feeling of the cool liquid wetting his parched throat.

“I’ll be fine,” Kai absentmindedly replied, holding the waterskin in both hands as he put his forearms on his knees. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the cool eastern Earth Kingdom spring breeze.

Zheng sighed and sat down beside Kai, snatching the waterskin from his hands and taking a long drink from it himself. Leaning back, Zheng took in the wide blue sky, propping his head against the wooden wall of the granary.

“It’s just…” Kai spoke up, “that was the first time I’ve really ever seen someone die.” His words caused Zheng to tilt his head toward Kai. “It’s funny, right? We spent like a year in the trenches, taking potshots at every enemy we saw, and there must’ve been a lot of people dying. But still…” he trailed off as he looked forlornly into the brown dirt, distractedly drawing circles on the ground with a small twig. “It’s really different to see it so up close and, I don’t know, _personal_. I grew up in a small village, and before shipping out here, I never saw anything like that, not even an animal getting killed.”

Grimacing, Zheng nodded his head and slapped a hand on Kai’s back, causing the slightly younger man to splutter.

“Ya’ know, I like to philosophize from time to time; fancy myself as a learned man. Maybe I can help a bit. I may not be much older than you – maybe five, six years, right?”

Kai nodded. “Probably, though five or six years is a lot when I’ve only got seventeen to spare.”

“Sure,” Zheng chuckled. “But the point is that I’ve still got more experience than you on this stuff, regardless of what the knucklehead in there says. I’ve seen my fair share of battles and let me tell you,” Zheng leaned in closer to Kai, “it hasn’t gotten any easier for me watching a man die.”

“Really?”

“Really.” The older soldier took another drink of water. “It’s every bit as brutal as the first time.” He capped the waterskin. “At least for me. I’ve seen men that don’t even flinch when they step into a pile of blood and guts.”

“That’s… intense, I guess.”

Zheng shook his head. “Nah, it’s terrible. They’re completely desensitized to it. The way I see it, as long as you’re still bothered by death, then you’re good. The worst thing that can happen to any of us is to lose what’s left of our humanity. Even if the war ends, what good is it if all you know is death?”

Kai widened his eyes as he looked at Zheng. “That’s deep, buddy.”

Zheng’s playful punch to Kai’s shoulder didn’t hurt much, and as Kai ruminated over Zheng’s words, at the very least he felt a little measure of comfort in his soul at the thought that since he could still feel, he was still human.

* * *

The two guards standing outside the command tent snapped off crisp military salutes when they saw the prince and bodyguard duo approaching them. Lu Ten simply nodded at both guards before slipping under the fold of the tent’s entrance, Mimi following close behind him.

Immediately, Mimi was bombarded by the chatter and business that accompanied every army camp’s headquarters. It was very much a head for the body that was the army, with messengers flowing in and out like blood to each part of the body, feeding orders and taking reports as they came and went. Lu Ten, having grown up in such environments, was quite used to the buzz and strode through it all like he owned the place – though that was not too far off from the truth. He walked straight to the partially secluded back of the tent, where he and Mimi found Lu Ten’s father, the venerable General, surrounded by the army’s other commanders as they all huddled over a table-sized map of Ba Sing Se.

“Father,” Lu Ten announced his presence. “I have surveyed the troops. Morale is high and our wounded are few. We are in a good position to commence the second stage of the invasion.”

A hearty chuckle erupted from the highest commander of the Fire Nation forces.

“That is good, Lu Ten. Very good news indeed,” General Iroh replied, a wide smile on his face. “We will begin the conquest of Ba Sing Se’s agrarian zone in one week, after making sure we have secured all of the granaries in our current area. Commanders, can you see to the details of the operation?”

“Yes, sir!” all the men beside Iroh affirmed as they saluted.

“Then you are all dismissed.”

Lu Ten walked to his father as various army commanders filed past him. A few steps away, Mimi stood still, surveying the environment and quietly keeping guard behind Lu Ten.

“Come, Lu Ten, let us have some tea,” Iroh spoke up once they were the last three souls in the back half of the command tent. “I have managed to find some rare and exotic leaves from Gaoling that I’ve been dying to try.” Gesturing to his son, General Iroh walked around the table, only stopping when he came parallel with Mimi.

“And you are…” Iroh trailed off, his expression indicating his expectation of a quick answer to his implicit question.

“Mimi, sir. Commander Jiang ordered me to protect the prince, in compliance with orders from you, sir.”

Iroh slowly nodded. “Ah, that must be it. I was wondering why I have never met you, but it must be because Jiang only put you on the task quite recently. A true shame about Lu Ten’s last bodyguard, truly.” The veteran general’s dark amber eyes – the same shade as Lu Ten’s – seemed to pin Mimi to the spot, and even though she was a seasoned, if young, member in Commander Jiang’s elite Bubai Warriors, she still felt a measure of trepidation creep into her chest. There was a deep power lurking behind those eyes, and at that very moment, it was as if the general could through her and unravel all her deepest, darkest secrets.

What was he looking for? Her loyalty? Her competency? Things that any regular man would have been content with, knowing that she came, handpicked from Commander Jiang.

“Well, you are certainly free to join us for our noon tea, Mimi,” Iroh suddenly said, and the pressure that had quickly built up just as quickly dissipated as his eyes seemingly sparkled with joy. “Brewing tea for one of my finest warriors would be my honor.”

Mimi gulped. This had to be some sort of test from the old, wizened general. There was no way it was going to be as simple as just a nice cup of good tea. Perhaps she had already even failed.

“W-while that sounds delightful, sir,” Mimi started, trying to keep her voice steady, “it would be improper for me to relax when I should be keeping vigilance over the prince. It would be better for me to keep watch outside your tent instead.”

“Oh, come now, Mimi,” Lu Ten began, but he was quickly waved off by his father.

“The girl has a point, Lu Ten,” Iroh responded. “It was improper of me to make such an offer and to put you in such a strange and difficult position.” He turned to his son. “You could do with being more like her, so diligent and dedicated.”

“Dad!” Lu Ten’s incredulous voice floated over.

Iroh simply chuckled, but as he passed Mimi, his eyes seemed like they were analyzing her one last time before they returned to a cheerful disposition more in line with his content smile. Slowly, she fell into line behind Lu Ten, doing her best to ignore the events that had just occurred.

Was she overthinking it? Perhaps she had just imagined it all? Maybe it was just an innocent offer for some tea. But Mimi was someone who trusted her gut instinct, and her initial reaction had been that it was a test of some sort. For what, she had no idea, but the general was more than just his kind, almost grandfatherly disposition – of that she had no doubt, considering his formidable reputation as the Dragon of the West.

There was no use in overthinking it, Mimi concluded. If it had been a test, then all she could do was to strengthen her resolve to pass it. That was how a Bubai Warrior faced problems, but more importantly, it was how she had always overcome problems of her own.

* * *

“Are you sure that we should be out so late?” Kai whispered, looking at Zheng.

“Don’t be such a wuss,” the older soldier responded, striding down the dirt path to a different mass of tents. “I bet even some of the captains and commanders are joining it – it’s not every day we get to celebrate breaking through Ba Sing Se’s walls, after all.”

“I know, I know, it’s just that I’m still a little worried…”

Zheng spun on his heel and grabbed Kai by the shoulders, gently shaking him. “What’re you afraid of? Getting in a little trouble with the higher ups? It’ll be fine, man.” He turned back to face the road and continued walking. “Were you like the goody two-shoes of your village or something?”

“Kinda, yeah,” Kai replied sheepishly. “I’ve never been to an _actual_ party or anything like that, and definitely not when it’s not allowed.”

Zheng snorted. “Figures. Well, there’s a first for everything. Tonight’s gonna be your first party, and it’s gonna be great.”

There was a brief pause as they walked on the road. Finally, Zheng spoke up.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, go for it.”

“Why did you decide to join the army? Or were you were conscripted?”

Kai sighed. “No, I decided to join.” He kicked a small nearby rock as he walked. “It was… how do I say it? It’s not like I’m really patriotic or anything,” Kai suddenly turned to Zheng while raising his hands, “though I definitely, completely support the Fire Nation in the war!”

Zheng chuckled. “It’s fine. I understand, though I’m probably going to wear Fire Nation red for the rest of my life.”

“It’s just, I don’t know, I wanted to see the world, I guess. Get out of my hometown.”

“Oh, you don’t like it there?”

Kai finally kicked the small rock off the path. “Maybe. It was just too small. Stifling, kinda. Never really felt like I fit in. Maybe that’s why I don’t really feel that attached to my home.”

“I get that. Sometimes, you’re just meant for more than a life of farming the same land your ancestors farmed – it’s a big world after all.”

“Yeah, exactly! I think that’s it. I joined partially because I would be able to see more than just what I grew up with. And now I’m on the other side of the world.” 

Zheng smiled at that, and the two walked fell into a comfortable silence on the dirt path. Less than half a _li_ up ahead, they could see a mass of lights and a faint rumble in the distance. It was clear that a mass of tents – mostly in the barracks section of the camp – was the center of the victory party. It was a raucous affair, with many a spilled barrel of liquor and already passed-out soldiers littering the ring of the tents.

“Zheng, you’re finally here!” a man yelled as he walked up to Zheng and Kai. “Was almost thinking you weren’t gonna make it.” He thrust a mug into Zheng’s hand. “Better get to it – night’s still young!” With that, the man strode off into a nearby group, laughing loudly as he did so.

Grimacing, Zheng handed the mug to Kai without turning around. “Might as well get started, yeah?”

Kai looked down at the mug of beer that he now found in his hands. “Um, I’ve never had any alcohol before.”

The older man turned to Kai with an incredulous look on his face. “Uh, Kai… _how_?”

“No parties, remember?”

Zheng shook his head and slapped Kai’s back hard, causing the younger man to splutter and spill a little of the beer in his full mug. “First time for everything, then.”

* * *

Mimi silently stood by the entrance flap of the tent as she watched Lu Ten work at his desk with his back to her. Outside, the sounds of an impromptu party organized by various regimental leaders throughout the army raged on, though with the distance between the barracks being used for said party and the higher-ranking officers’ tents, it was little more than a dull roar than an actually irritating or distracting sound.

Suddenly, Lu Ten yawned and stretched out his arms. “I think that’s about good,” he said, as he stood up and pushed in his chair. “Though I wish I could’ve gotten a little more done. You know what? Here, Mimi, come here – I want to get your opinion on some of this.”

“Yes, sir,” Mimi replied, discretely stretching some of her sorer muscles out of habit as she strode over. She felt a little conflicted, since her formal education, while not lacking compared to the average citizen, was nothing special and certainly paled in comparison to the education of a royal. If the prince could not figure something out in a report or document, there was little hope she could either.

“Just this little section here,” Lu Ten quietly said. “How does it flow?”

Mimi blinked a few times to make sure she was seeing correctly. Instead of long blocks of text about military affairs, the writing she saw was instead neatly and openly spaced with each character elegantly drawn and crafted.

“Sir, is this poetry?” Mimi asked, her brow furrowed. The last time she had regularly read or heard poetry was when she was a young girl, back when her own mother used to read it to her. Since then, it was rare that she had the opportunity to sit down to read or attend a reading of a poet. It was one of those rare, secret hobbies that she kept hidden from others since she knew that her comrades would tease her relentlessly about having such a ‘boring’ pastime.

“Indeed, Mimi,” Lu Ten responded with a small smile. “Just a little something I’ve been working on. You could say it’s a hobby of mine, though I’ve only found the time to work on it today since we’ve won such a monumental victory.”

Mimi absentmindedly nodded as she scanned the words. “Falling leaves?” she asked, unsure of the deeper meaning behind some of the words and phrases used.

“Oh yes,” Lu Ten quickly said. “Like the children’s song. My father used to sing it to me when I was a child, and I have a soft spot for it. I plan on compiling this and some of my other works to give to my father when we take the city, so I thought that it was fitting for me to return some of the gifts he gave to me when I was younger.”

“Very good, sir,” Mimi awkwardly returned. Peering into the intricate relationship between her charge and his father was more than she really needed to know. “It’s well written. I think your father would like it.”

Lu Ten exhaled with a pursed lip smile. “You don’t have to say that for me, Mimi.”

“It’s the truth, sir.” There was silence as Mimi stood behind Lu Ten, who was organizing the various pieces of parchment and pens he had strewn about his desk. “Will you be retiring for the night, sir?” she asked.

“No, no,” Lu Ten distractedly responded. “I think I’ll go see what all the fuss is about with the soldiers and the _victory party_ , as they are calling it.”

Mimi frowned. “I must warn y…” she trailed off as Lu Ten turned around, just a half arms-length away from her, with his hand raised.

“It’ll be fine,” Lu Ten assured his bodyguard. “All of those men are loyal Fire Nation soldiers and would die to protect me. It’ll be completely safe.” He turned back to his desk to put a folder back in the stack. “Plus, it could help take the edge off for both of us. Agni knows I could use a strong one right about now.”

“Sir?”

“Oh, I’m sure the men are cracking open all the good barrels for tonight’s occasion.”

“Sir, it would be completely inappropriate for me to drink while guarding you.”

“Think of it as my professional suggestion to you as a fellow soldier, then. Or perhaps a direct order would work better?”

Mimi sighed. “Very well, sir. Perhaps a drink or two would not hurt… too much.”

Lu Ten playfully punched her in the shoulder on his way to the tent’s entrance flap. “That’s the spirit.”

* * *

“Oh, great Agni,” Kai mumbled as he stumbled onto an overturned barrel. “I shouldn’t have gone so hard.” In the spirit of competition between comrades, he had gone straight from “never drank alcohol” to “runner-up in alcohol-drinking contest” in the span of a few hours. He had also gorged himself on every fine delicacy he could find, which ranged from the eccentric sweets of the colonies to some good, if decidedly Earth Kingdom-style, roasted turkey duck – it was no Komodo sausage, but it was still hearty and delicious.

“Ugh,” he groaned, falling backward onto the dirt. His head was still spinning, but at the very least, he felt a measure of comfort.

The night sky was full of stars, and for a moment, Kai could almost pretend that he was back in the Fire Nation, back in Shao Chen, as a small child lying on a grassy hill with the cool spring night breeze blowing across his face and the scent of blooming flowers thick in the air. Of course, he returned to reality just as quickly, but the fond, rare recollection of his childhood was a nice dream while it lasted.

Tomorrow, he would have to pick up his spear and don his armor just like the thousands of other soldiers beside him, and he would have to march on the walls of the city proper under the command of the greatest general the Fire Nation had ever seen. Like every other soldier in the camp, drunk on the victory they had achieved, there was no doubt in Kai’s mind that General Iroh could bring them the ultimate victory of defeating the Earth Kingdom by taking Ba Sing Se.

 _I hope I can go home soon_ , Kai thought to himself before he closed his eyes, content with food in his belly and the dreams of a better future in his mind. It was not the thought of returning to his hometown that filled Kai with such warmth, but rather what ‘home’ represented – a place of belonging and contentment, where he could live in peace and live off his honest work.

The cool spring breeze ruffled his hair, gently embracing him as he lay on that dirt path.

* * *

The city of Ba Sing Se was calm at night, perhaps eerily so considering the great military defeat it had just suffered earlier in the day. Even within the Lower Ring, there was no indication of any real panic that one would imagine would come with the fall of a city’s outer walls.

In a courtyard at the front of royal palace of the Earth King, a lone agent of the Dai Li, the protectors of the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se, stood in front of lines of saluting soldiers. There were nearly four dozen of them.

“Each of you are here tonight because you have all served with distinction,” the Dai Li agent intoned. “And beginning tonight, you will be able to serve when your nation needs you to. Under the command of Feng,” a man in the line stepped forward, “you will work in the Agrarian Zone to distract, repel, and hinder Fire Nation forces. It will not be an easy task, but it is a necessary one. Those at the highest levels have full faith in your abilities to handle this assignment. Show our enemies that we are not to be trifled with.”

“Yes, sir!”

The Dai Li agent watched the soldiers earthbend away into the tunnels beneath the palace that would lead them to the Inner Wall of the city and allow them easy access to the Agrarian Zone. When they were all gone, he slipped away into the darkness as well, and within seconds, there was no trace that anyone had been there at all. Nothing to suggest the Earth Kingdom had deployed troops to fight the Fire Nation. No proof that the Dai Li had extended their authority outside the walls of the city. In fact, there was no turmoil within the city at all.

After all, there was no war in Ba Sing Se.


	2. Summer

The heat of Ba Sing Se’s summer was not the most oppressive that Kai had ever felt since the southern Fire Nation, where he was from, was famous for its intense summer heat. In fact, after he had gotten used to it, the dry heat of the northeastern Earth Kingdom was rather comfortable to the Fire Nation soldier even though it was in sharp contrast to the humidity that Kai had grown up with. While he was not a firebender himself, the summer seemed to enrich him, keeping his spirits high as he patrolled his usual route.

To Kai, the patrol was by far the most unbearable part of the summer. It was long, boring, and tedious. He hadn’t so much as heard the peep or seen the tell-tale green color of an Earth Kingdom soldier in nearly two months, and his battalion had been stationed in the same place near the edge of Fire Nation-controlled territory for the same length of time.

Still, as far as complaints went, Kai’s were relatively minor. Sure, the work was not exactly exciting, but he was fed and sheltered. The same could not be said for his own childhood back in Shao Chen, when there were many a night he went to sleep with an empty stomach. Under General Iroh’s command, he was as safe as any soldier in any war could be, and that was a comforting thought to Kai as he trudged on through the fields of wheat, carving new paths through his repetitive patrol route.

* * *

Mimi could see the tension in Lu Ten’s back. It was in how he held himself – stiff shoulders, neck bent over as he wrote a report. Unfortunately, it was all too common a sight as many days and nights had passed with Lu Ten hard at work at his desk. She grimaced, knowing the pressure that had to be weighing on the prince.

In some ways, the war to take Ba Sing Se had stagnated. While they had surged through the breach in the Outer Wall with relative ease in those early days, the Agrarian Zone was a vast territory, and Ba Sing Se seemed determined to slow the Fire Nation’s advance with all the power they still had available. After the first few days and weeks of open field battle where the Fire Nation won victory after victory against Earth Kingdom armies, the enemy had seemingly retreated and allowed Fire Nation forces to swarm over the prized and important agricultural hinterland of Ba Sing Se.

Unfortunately, without the manpower to fully occupy the entire Agrarian Zone, the Fire Nation army of General Iroh had to content itself with carving out its own slice of the pie, staging a siege now against the Inner Wall of the city. From what Mimi had heard over the past few weeks of guarding Lu Ten, the siege was not going well – or, at least, no better than the siege of the Outer Wall, which had taken many men, resources, and three hundred long days of grueling toil to finally break through.

“Mimi, we’re leaving,” Lu Ten suddenly said, gathering his papers into a folder and standing up.

“Yes, sir,” she responded with a salute, holding open the entrance flap of his tent. Lu Ten quickly slipped past her, and she exited after the prince.

The two of them walked in silence, an increasingly routine characteristic of Lu Ten’s as his days became busier and more grueling. In the months that she had gotten to know him, he had gone from quite talkative to almost wordless, and his expressions were seemingly becoming set in a permanent frown. After a few minutes, the two came to a halt outside the command tent, where both guards, recognizing them on sight after months of the same daily routine, let them through without a word.

“Father,” Lu Ten intoned as he reached the back of the command tent where the commanders of the army congregated over a table. Mimi took her customary spot by the tent’s wall as Lu Ten sat in the open chair to General Iroh’s righthand side.

“Welcome, Lu Ten,” General Iroh greeted, pausing to take a sip from his tea. The old general frowned, then quickly flickered fire out of his hands to heat his teacup. He then took another sip, sighing with pleasure as he drank.

“Now, to return to business,” Iroh began, his tone shifting into that of a battle-hardened general’s – steady, resolute, and without emotion. “Commander Lu Ten, what is your report?”

Lu Ten cleared his throat as he placed a stack of parchment on the table. “So far, it seems like morale among the troops is still relatively high. Our lack of progress in the last few weeks has been noticed by many soldiers, but they still have faith in their commanders. Additionally, according to the report I received from Captain Hao of the Supply Division, our granaries are adequately stocked for at least another six months of campaigning, assuming the throughput from our supply lines out of the colonies remain consistent and our daily intake does not change.”

Iroh stroked his beard, subtly nodding as he listened. “That is good news. Commander Sheng?”

An older man, roughly in his forties, flipped open his binder of materials. “We’re mostly having trouble trying to pin down Earth Kingdom forces. They don’t seem to be willing to engage us in a pitched battle since they know we have the advantage right now, so they seem content to harass us at our flanks where we have the weakest defenses. It’s nothing to be concerned about though.”

Taking another gulp of tea, Iroh turned to face the commander speaking. “Are you sure? Ambushes can be the prelude to something worse if we’re not careful. Is there a pattern to their attacks?”

Sheng flipped through a few sheets of parchment before shaking his head. “No, sir. Their attacks are mainly coordinated at the eastern flank nearest the wall, where we have mixed teams patrolling the perimeter. Most reports indicate that we’re dealing with earthbending teams, though some of our patrol units have suffered moderate casualties. I’m told that it’s under control.”

Another man down the table snorted. “Your captains will never tell you that’s not ‘under control’, Sheng. Commanding one-oh-one.”

“I don’t appreciate the jab, Jiang,” Sheng snarled. “Handle your own troops, and I’ll handle mine.”

“Gentlemen,” Iroh diplomatically said, raising his hands, “we are all on the same side here. I believe that Jiang’s words have some merit – Sheng, you should head out and double check yourself to see what the situation on the ground is like.”

“Yes, sir,” Sheng begrudgingly intoned.

Mimi imperceptibly sighed as the exciting moments of drama and passion ended and the meeting returned to its monotonous patterns. Her knees were aching a little, but she put up with it as she mentally tuned the council out and stood as still as she could.

* * *

Kai wiped the sweat off his brow with a towel as he pulled off his helmet with the other hand. Plopping himself down on the dirt path by his tent’s entrance, he tiredly yawned with his forearms on his knees. It was around midday, which meant that Kai got to take an hour for lunch – a most welcomed and treasured break after four hours of patrol. Taking a quick swig of water from his pouch, Kai stood up to get in line for some food, but a firm hand stopped him from stepping forward.

“Zheng?” Kai questioned when he turned around to see his friend. “What are you doing? I was just gonna get some grub.”

Zheng pointed to the main courtyard of the temporary battalion camp with his head. “Commander wants to see all the guys that went on patrol this morning.”

“You’re kidding,” Kai groaned, nearly dropping his helmet. “I’m starving.”

“Well, you better hope it’s short then.”

Kai began to stomp off toward the tent before turning around. “You better get me a bowl then!” He heard Zheng laugh behind him as he marched on toward the courtyard. Slipping in at back of a sizable crowd of people, Kai contented himself with having to squint to clearly see the commander on the wooden stage.

“I’m told all of you are the units that went on patrol this morning,” Commander Sheng began. From Kai’s perspective, he was quite the imposing figure – tall, broad shoulders, and fierce and immaculate armor. Everything he imagined a commander of the Fire Nation army would look like.

“In light of recent issues,” Sheng continued, “we will be strengthening our patrols. From now on, we will be commencing double patrols, which means that you will all go out again this afternoon to increase our patrol strength.” There was a collective mass of groans at this, as most of the soldiers were already exhausted from their morning patrol.

“Silence!” the captain beside Sheng yelled. The commander raised a hand, indicating he wanted quiet.

“This is a necessary step to ensure the safety of this army,” Sheng boomed. “We of the command staff are counting on you all to provide security by being the eyes and ears of our perimeter defense. This is an incredibly important task and one I’m sure you will all conduct with the highest regard.”

“That’s some real Komodo manure,” one of the soldiers beside Kai snickered. “This is about as important as sweeping the outhouses.”

Sheng’s eyes instantly flicked to that soldier, who found himself with a vacated circle of air as everyone around him stepped away.

“What was that, soldier?” Sheng quietly asked, his voice easily carrying over the completely soundless crowd.

“N-nothing, sir,” the now-quivering soldier replied. “I-I-I was just h-honored to be taking a second patrol t-today.”

Sheng’s eyes narrowed. “As that’s the case, then you’ll be fine with a third shift tonight too, no?”

“Y-y-yes, sir.”

“Good,” Sheng finished, turning to his captain. He immediately walked off the stage, leaving behind a mostly quiet group of soldiers.

Kai despondently sighed. It seemed like lunch was out of the picture.

* * *

“At least I’m here to make it bearable, right?” Zheng whistled as he strode down the dirt path. Beside him, Kai, who had been assigned to a second duty of patrol for the day like everyone else, sighed, wearily using his spear as a walking stick.

Kai’s stomach rumbled, reminding him of the lost lunch that he had not eaten.

Turning to Kai, Zheng pulled a small loaf of bread out of his pack. “Here,” he offered the younger man. “It’s not much, but it’ll help.”

With just a brief grunt of thanks, Kai snatched the loaf and ravenously dug into it, devouring the bread in just a few bites. He forlornly looked at his now-empty hands, wishing that he had a hot bowl of gruel and a few strips of dried and salted hippo cow beef to eat. It seemed quite unfair to him that those of the first patrol schedule block had been forced out onto an immediate second patrol, but orders were orders and it was Kai’s place to follow them, not question them.

“What’s that?” Kai asked a few minutes after finishing his pitiful snack, noticing a small convoy of strange animals about a hundred _chi_ in front of them, some ridden by armored men and others pulling a carriage.

“Oh, that?” Zheng looked where Kai was pointing. It was a carriage pulled by ostrich horses, surrounded by other riders in armor. “I think that’s Commander Sheng’s convoy; he must be heading back to the main camp.”

Kai kicked up a clump of dirt from the side of the path. “Figures. Comes down here like Agni himself and leaves after making us all work like slaves.”

Zheng patted Kai on the back. “Welcome to the army.”

Snorting, Kai contented himself with kicking forward a small rock every few steps. In a mildly self-amusing way, he noted how far the rock moved with every kick. Sometimes, even though he applied about the same force, the shape of the rock caused it to move further than usual, while other times it rolled less than before. There was a certain side of the rock that was relatively nonuniform, jutting out in a way that gave it a random chance of moving erratically. A small observation, one that a man with more important tasks at hand would not have noticed.

It was, all in all, an inane game, one designed solely to stimulate Kai’s bored mind in the barest way possible.

“Kai, duck!” Zheng’s yell suddenly pierced the air, startling Kai. Twelve weeks of Fire Nation army boot camp caused him to immediately and instinctively duck with the call, which caused the man-sized piece of earth to barely ruffle the top of his hair as it flew over him. The chunk of earth crashed into the ground dozens of _chi_ behind him.

“Bleed hog monkeys!” Kai swore, his eyes wide as he saw the chunk of earth sinking into the ground. “What is going on?”

Zheng roughly pulled Kai back up to his feet. “Look!”

Kai followed Zheng’s finger and felt his stomach drop when he saw Commander Sheng’s convoy in ruins. The carriage was overturned, and dead ostrich horses scattered the path. A few figures fought in the distance, with spurts of flame shooting into the air and pieces of earth flying at high speed. It was evident that there were considerably fewer firebenders than earthbenders.

“We need to help, now!” Zheng yelled, running off with his spear in his hand. Kai blinked a few times, but he also grabbed his spear and ran after Zheng.

The nearest earthbender – a lean figure clad in green and tan robes with a non-descript white mask – turned when he heard Zheng’s war-cry, but was too slow in raising his arms to earthbend before Zheng skewered him with his spear. The earthbender’s mask fell off as he was forced onto the ground by Zheng’s spear, revealing a shocked expression as he spat out blood. Twisting his spear, Zheng pulled it out of the man’s chest, running over the fresh corpse to another earthbender that stood about a dozen _chi_ away.

Unlike the first earthbender, this enemy had turned to face Zheng and was already prepared. Raising his arms, the earthbender rose a wall of earth in front of Zheng, who quickly spun on its surface to get around it. However, as Zheng turned the corner on the newly created wall, a rock the size of his head smashed into Zheng’s head, crumpling his metal helmet and causing him to fall backward with a grunt.

Kai’s body shook with fear as he saw his friend struggle on the ground. Clutching his spear with both hands, he closed his eyes and roared as he ran forward toward the advancing earthbender. Hearing a chuckle in front of him, Kai opened his eyes to a flat earth column rising out of the ground and hitting his gut seemingly with the force of a dragon moose. His eyes wide and his mouth open, Kai was flung backward, and his chest heaved as he struggled to catch his breath.

Groaning as he rolled onto his side, Kai saw the earthbender stand over Zheng, who was futilely trying to reach for his spear that lay a few _chi_ away. The earthbender simply stood still over the Fire Nation soldier, feet on either side of Zheng’s abdomen. When Zheng’s hand finally closed around the shaft of his spear, the earthbender rose a hand, and a spike made of earth pierced through Zheng’s chest, lifting him slightly off the ground. Zheng screamed in pain and coughed blood out of his mouth as he was lifted, and his spear rolled from his suddenly limp fingers.

“No,” Kai moaned, unable to stand up. He extended one arm toward Zheng, but it quickly fell as Kai felt his energy deserting him. Through his half-closed eyes, all he could see was the vague brown-red mix of earth and blood that the spike was colored as it extended into the air through Zheng’s body.

With a flick of the earthbender’s hand, the spike retracted into the ground, leaving Zheng’s body on the ground as he walked over to Kai. Unlike his fallen friend, Kai was not inclined to reach for his spear and simply rolled onto his back as he watched, with a sense of impending doom, as the earthbender took long, confident strides toward him.

“Pl-please, I surrender,” Kai spluttered, “don’t kill me.”

The earthbender scoffed before raising his hand. Kai cried out in fear, tears welling up and falling down his dirty face. Was this how it all ended? Before he was even twenty, was he doomed to die in an Earth Kingdom field an entire world away from his home? His tears mixed with the snot from his nose as his face scrunched up in sheer terror at the thought of imminent death.

Pitiful.

“Wait,” another voice called out, higher and lighter than the first. “We can just tie him up, right? He’s not a firebender, and our orders were only to kill Sheng.”

“Are you serious?” the first earthbender responded, his hand still raised. There was silence for a few moments as the earthbender’s brow scrunched up, his mind contemplating Kai’s fate. The only sound was Kai sniffling as quietly as he could, barely daring to breathe.

“Very well.” The hand dropped, but no spike rose from the earth to end Kai’s life like it had for Zheng. Instead, the earth formed a flat surface that pushed Kai upward, as if he were leaning against a diagonally slanted wall. “But he’s your mess to deal with and handle.”

A fist slammed into Kai’s face, and he knew nothing but darkness after that.

* * *

“Sir, I have a priority message for you,” a voice announced from outside the tent. Pulling the entrance flap open, Mimi poked half of her head outside the tent to see a messenger with a sack filled with letters and a hand holding a single scroll.

“I’ll take that for the prince,” Mimi stated with an impassive expression, pointing at the scroll in his hands.

“Y-yes ma’am,” the messenger quickly stuttered, handing the scroll to her before quickly walking away. Pulling her head back into the tent, Mimi examined the scroll for a moment, noting the official stamp on it bearing the mark of General Iroh himself – whatever it was, it was important enough to warrant a direct letter instead of waiting for the general meeting that would occur later in the evening.

“What is it, Mimi?” Lu Ten’s tired voice came from across the tent. She looked up to see his slightly hunched-over back as usual, the prince having not turned around during the entire episode as he worked at his desk.

“Just a letter from the general,” Mimi replied.

“Bring it over, then. I may as well get it out of the way.”

Striding across the tent, Mimi placed the scroll into Lu Ten’s raised hand, which he put on his shoulder. He opened the scroll with both hands, breaking the wax seal that kept it closed and officially sealed, and quickly scanned the contents of the letter. Behind him, Mimi stood at a respectable distance to guarantee the prince the privacy of the letter. She was, however, not expecting the curse and slam that ensued as Lu Ten hammered his wooden desk with a closed fist. In his other hand, he had crumpled the parchment.

“Sir?” Mimi hesitantly asked.

“Sheng is dead. The battalion stationed on the outer perimeter has been functionally destroyed, and hundreds of men are unaccounted for, likely dead,” Lu Ten replied in a neutral voice, not turning to face Mimi. “What remains is now retreating to the main camp.”

A pause.

“Agni!” Lu Ten suddenly yelled, standing up and half-turning, causing his chair to fall over. “This is all that idiot’s fault. If only my father had stationed me on the perimeter, I could’ve ensured a victory. None of those men would’ve had to die out there if an absolute incompetent wasn’t put on the front!”

“I’m sure General Iroh had his intentions wh-”

“My father kept me back because he’s scared of me out there!” Lu Ten screamed, striding up to Mimi. “If he didn’t hold me back, I would be out there in the field with the men, fighting for victory. Instead, he keeps me back here with,” he gestured around his tent, “mundane administrative duties. What’s the point of all those meetings if I never even _see_ the enemy? I want to be out there, fighting like every other soldier! How can I call myself a man, much less a prince, if I can’t be out there to risk my life when others are laying down theirs for the nation?” The prince breathed heavily after his tirade, his golden eyes glaring.

Mimi was shocked. It was the first time she had ever seen Lu Ten burst out like this and the first time she had ever been on the receiving end of his verbal attacks. She unconsciously stepped backward, afraid of the anger of an enraged firebender.

Lu Ten must have noticed her fear, because when he looked into her eyes, he frowned and blinked a few times.

“No, no, wait, Mimi, I’m sorry,” Lu Ten quickly said. “I didn’t mean any of that toward you. I’m sorry.”

Mimi silently nodded, still unsettled by Lu Ten’s temper.

“No, really, I mean it.” Lu Ten followed up. “It’s just…” he trailed off, “you know, it’s not been an easy few weeks.”

“I… I understand,” Mimi whispered. She had seen how hard he had worked – harder than anyone else in the camp. He was constantly walking around the camp, meeting with the command staff, keeping the morale high by letting the common soldier interact with both a member of the command staff and a royal, and working on mountains of reports. He was half of the lifeblood of the army, his father the other half. It was enough to drive a man mad, but Lu Ten had shouldered it for nearly a year and a half now, and that amount of stress had to be relieved somehow.

There was another silence, this one somewhat more comfortable as they both came to terms with Lu Ten’s outburst and its root cause.

Lu Ten cracked a small smile. “You didn’t call me ‘sir’ that time.”

Mimi blinked. “Oh,” she replied, not knowing what else to say. “Sir.”

“I told you that one day you we would get you to not call me ‘sir’. I’m glad that it came so relatively soon.” Lu Ten sighed as he picked up his chair and sat back down in it, albeit this time facing Mimi. “Tell you what, I’ll take the rest of the day off. What do _you_ want to do today?”

“Excuse me?” Mimi quietly asked.

“The rest of the day is yours,” Lu Ten explained as he leaned back into his wooden chair. “Get drinks? Cards with the men? Maybe a few rounds of pai sho? A good jog wouldn’t be bad either.”

Mimi was silent for a few moments as she contemplated the prince’s words. Since she had been made Lu Ten’s bodyguard, she had few chances for free time for herself. Protecting a prince was a daily, hourly job. Now, the prince she was supposed to be protecting was offering them to do whatever she wanted – it was a power and luxury she was unaccustomed to having.

What did she want to do? There were a myriad of relaxing things that she could think of, but none of them felt inherently satisfying – indeed, she still felt the call of her duty to protect Lu Ten, and having fun in the barracks with the other soldiers did not feel like something appropriate to bring the prince to.

Then, she realized what she was forgetting. The prince was giving her an opportunity to enjoy herself, but in a self-sacrificial way, he was letting go of the opportunity to take some time for himself. It was in that moment that she knew how to spend the rest of the day.

“I would like to listen to some of your poetry,” Mimi requested.

Lu Ten’s brow scrunched up. “Wait, really?”

Mimi nodded. “It’s, uh, a hobby of mine to, er, listen to poetry,” she shyly said. She paused for a moment. “You’re the first person I’ve ever told that to.

The prince nodded with pursed lips. “Well, that’s certainly… unexpected, I’ll be honest. I don’t know many that enjoy poetry.” He suddenly smirked. “I’ll keep your fateful secret deep in my heart, my fair maiden,” Lu Ten dramatically exclaimed, posing as he did so. Mimi rolled her eyes at his antics, but inside she was happy to see Lu Ten seemingly relax for once.

“Now, let’s see here,” Lu Ten said, flipping through a folder he plucked from his desk. Mimi took a chair from dining table to the side to sit on, carrying it to about four or five _chi_ away from Lu Ten’s before taking a seat.

“Ah, yes!” Lu Ten declared as he nodded to himself. “This one is a nice starter.” He cleared his throat as he began.

“The glory to win; what riches to gain! For us, the sun never sets.”

* * *

Kai moaned as he felt the first tendrils of consciousness reach him. His head pounded something awful, as if he been bashed in the face by a slab of earth. Then his memories flooded in and he remembered the earthbender’s fist punching his face, and he winced as he recalled it the painful sensation. The pounding in his head made sense now.

His surroundings were dimly lit – it was a crude, small room made of earth, and the only light source was a flickering flame that he could barely see from a small eye-level hole. There were no windows to natural light nor a door. It was a barebones but effective cell, and Kai could not see an easy or hard way to get out.

However, Kai could hear the telltale sound of feet shuffling along dirt. Standing up on shaky legs, he tried to peer through the small hole, but could not see much other than the torch opposite of his cell and shadows extending into both directions outside.

“How’re you feeling?” a voice called out from outside the cell, startling Kai. He fell backward and landed on his rear, wincing at the pain that rattled his bones. “Um, are you okay?”

“Yeah…” Kai slowly began, choosing to sit on the ground and look up at the hole. “I’m fine.” It was the voice from before – the one that had saved his life. Now that he was somewhat more clear-headed and no longer in danger of imminently dying, he could make out more details of the voice. If he had to guess, its owner was a woman.

“That’s good,” the voice replied. There was a short pause. “I have some dinner for you.” Without waiting for a reply, a small chunk of the wall near the ground opened up and a tray of food was pushed in before it closed again.

Kai examined the food. It was basic – a cold bowl of rice, a few strips of dried meat, and a cup of water. Still, food was food, and the rumbling in his stomach reminded him how appetizing any food could be when someone was hungry.

“Thanks,” Kai finally responded.

“You’re welcome. Uh, enjoy.” The sound of footsteps signaled the person outside walking away, and Kai turned to his tray, intent on filling his stomach. He had not eaten anything since–

–since Zheng had given him that loaf of bread.

Zheng. His friend.

His _dead_ friend. Zheng’s screams echoed in Kai’s head, and the sight of the spike of earth rising from the ground and through Zheng’s chest was indelibly seared into Kai’s mind.

Suddenly, Kai did not feel hungry anymore. He pushed away the tray and fell onto his back, staring into the darkness of his cell’s ceiling as tears began to roll down his face.

* * *

For a talented eighteen-year-old earthbender, Wen did not feel the steadiness that was supposed to be the calling card of those who practiced earthbending. She was hovering outside of the cell of the Fire Nation soldier they had captured, carrying a tray of food that was to be his dinner. He was not the only one they had captured during their successful attack on Commander Sheng of the Fire Nation army, but he was the only one that she, as per Da Gou’s words, had to manage on her own.

Da Gou had been in favor of simply wiping out every Fire Nation soldier they came across, but Wen, along with some of the other younger earthbenders on their team, had been hesitant to apply the same deadly policy to non-benders as they would to firebenders. There was something inherently unequal and unfair about that to her. Da Gou had laughed at her supposed “naivety”, a jab that she could not easily retort considering her own background. This was the first time she had passed the Outer Wall of Ba Sing Se, and fighting against real enemies of the Earth Kingdom was a far cry from the earthbending practices she had excelled at during her childhood. Up to the battle they had just fought, she had not even come face-to-face with an enemy soldier before, having always pummeled them from a distance with her earthbending.

Perhaps that was why, the first time she had come across a Fire Nation soldier that pleaded for his life against the might of Da Gou’s powerful earthbending, she felt something resembling pity, or maybe even sorrow, in her heart. The way his face had contorted in absolute terror, the almost pathetic countenance of his expression – it was heart wrenching to watch, even though she knew he was the enemy. He was just as young as her, without the power of bending, and far from his homeland; who was she to say that he was not as scared as any of them?

That was another line of thought that she was sure Da Gou would laugh at her for. Sympathizing with the enemy – that was a new one.

A shuffling of feet inside the cell broke Wen out of her thoughts, and she quickly stepped back as she felt the captive Fire Nation soldier rise to his feet.

“How’re are you feeling?” Wen asked, keeping her voice steadier than she felt. There was a stumble in the cell and a faint crash of someone tripping, causing her to quickly peer through the eyehole.

“Um, are you okay?” she followed up, not exactly sure why the captured soldier was now sitting on his rear end on the ground.

“Yeah…” his voice floated out of the cell. “I’m fine.”

Wen sighed. “That’s good.” She paused, not sure exactly what to say next, but then remembered that she was carrying his dinner tray. “I have some dinner for you.” She quickly raised one hand to make a small opening near the ground on the wall that separated him from the hallway. She pushed the tray through the opening before closing up the opening just as quickly as she made it.

“Thanks,” the soldier finally said after a few moments of silence.

“You’re welcome,” Wen automatically replied. Her brain searched for a follow-up. “Uh, enjoy.” She quickly spun on her heel and she walked down the hallway away from the cells.

For a prisoner of war, he was nothing like she expected. When she had been brought into the fold by being conscripted into the war effort, she had learned that the Earth Kingdom had been locked in a nearly century-long conflict with the Fire Nation, and she had been taught that Fire Nation soldiers were bitter enemies that would stop at nothing to kill her and destroy her country.

The man they captured, however, seemed completely devoid of any of those traits. He had pleaded for his life like any other person, and he was soft-spoken and rather calm. It was a far cry from what she expected. Now that she could put a real face to the enemy, it felt like the entire dynamic of the fight had changed as far as she was concerned.

The enemy… seemed a lot like her. And as Wen walked toward the rest of their underground complex, that was a somewhat disturbing thought to contemplate. What exactly made him different from her?

Why were they enemies at all?


	3. Autumn

There was a collective feeling of malaise at the table, shared equally by the men both young and old. Even Mimi, who stood some distance away, felt a fatigue that was unconnected with her sore knees. Certainly, the news that was being shared by the various commanders and lower ranking officers of the Fire Nation army led by General Iroh that were in attendance was a prime factor for this atmosphere.

“If General Shinu is correct and the colonies are maxed out and can’t supply us, what about more direct sea routes from the mainland?” Commander Heng asked the table.

Commander Jiao shook his head. “My liaison with the navy – a Commander Zhao of the Western Fleet – says that they’re already too occupied in the West Lake to provide anymore logistical support to the Army. We can expect that the naval supply route through Mo Ce Sea will be unable to provide the throughput we require in the event of colonial shortages.”

Commander Jiang snorted. “Sounds like the Navy being a bunch of lazy snail sloths to me. They’ve never liked the Army, and now they’ve got a good chance at screwing us over.”

“That is enough,” General Iroh finally spoke up, silencing all discussion between his commanders at the table. He stood, drawing the attentions of everyone in the room. “We must remain focused, or we will not succeed. Commander Jiao, how much longer can we supply the army?”

The man in question huffed, his hand on his chin as he thought about the question posed to him. “Maybe four months, max. Probably less if we fight an actual battle, though that could lessen the ration load if we lose a sizable number of men.”

“That seems like a bad outcome either way,” Jiang grimly noted. “So come winter, we will have to make the hard choice of whether or not to continue the siege.”

“No,” said Iroh. The general sighed. “It will mean that by winter, we will either be the victorious conquerors of Ba Sing Se…” he paused, causing everyone to looked expectantly at him, “…or we will have suffered the greatest defeat in Fire Nation history.”

There was a low concerned murmur among the dozen or so men at the table. Suddenly, a messenger burst through the flaps that separated the command table from the rest of the tent. The young man was out of breath, but he carried a scroll in his hand and a determined look on his face.

“Sirs, uh, I have a top priority message from General Dai. It’s very urgent.”

Iroh extended a hand. “Let us see then.” The messenger handed him the letter. “Dismissed.” Nodding quickly, the messenger slipped out of the tent.

With a deep breath, Iroh unraveled the scroll and scanned each line, his eyes narrowing as the seconds passed. His audience waited with bated breath as he lowered the scroll with a downcast expression.

“General Dai’s army at Omashu has been routed by Earth Kingdom forces and is now in full retreat. This means that half of our sustained operation to take over major Earth Kingdom cities has now failed.”

“That’s absurd!” Heng yelled. “I know Dai – he wouldn’t ever retreat if he could still fight.”

Iroh nodded. “I know. But Dai fell during the final battle, and his army fell with him into complete disarray. We only have this information now because it took some time for them to reorganize.”

“Wait,” Lu Ten finally spoke up for the first time during the meeting. “If they’ve taken time to reorganize, how long ago were they defeated?”

Looking back at the letter, Iroh blinked. “It says they fought the decisive engagement two weeks ago.”

“So there’s the possibility of an Omashu force heading up right now to box us in?”

“Doubtful,” Jiang said. “They’ll need to take some time to at least properly organize and secure their own defenses. And they’d need to organize a long and complex supply train to manage the logistics for any sizable force. I wouldn’t bet on them being a threat for at least a few months.”

Iroh hummed his agreement. “I must concur with our valued commander. It is unlikely that they will be an issue soon. Rather, we must focus on breaking down the Inner Wall to breach the city. Commander Heng, what is your opinion on the current disposition of our forces?”

Heng rubbed his cheek as he looked down at various reports. “We’ve repositioned multiple battalions at the front, constant alert and permanent double patrols; we won’t have another repeat of the Sheng Incident. However, we’ve completely stalled out as far as progress on the siege goes – we can hold our current position and take the occasional ambush without much problem, but there are too many issues facing our army for us to move closer to the walls and attempt to attack.”

“I see. Lu Ten, the men?”

“I feel like the general mood of the men has shifted negatively – morale has dropped due to our clear lack of progress on the siege and there’s the feeling that we’ve fought Ba Sing Se to a hard draw. The Sheng Incident also still weighs heavily on the minds of many soldiers, and the rate of desertion has increased since summer.”

Iroh frowned. “Will desertion be a problem?”

Lu Ten shook his head. “Right now, it’s still localized and small-scale. We’re containing the incidents as best we can, and we’ve caught some of the deserters already.”

“We must make an example of deserters,” Jiang emphatically declared, “or we will have bigger issues on our hands. I say we publicly execute them and be done with this matter.”

“No, we can’t do that!” Lu Ten responded. “If we execute them, we’ll only destroy the morale of the men and make more people susceptible to the idea of deserting.”

Jiang laughed before retorting. “You’re still young and inexperienced. If we don’t enforce discipline among the men, the entire army will disintegrate into a mindless rabble. We need to do what is necessary while we still have the opportunity to do so.”

“I may be young, but I clearly understand what the men on the ground are thinking and how to address their concerns. Can we say the same for you?”

Jiang’s eyes narrowed. “Shall we put it to a vote, then? See how many of us agree with you and how many agree with me.”

“That is enough,” Iroh finally intervened. “For now, I believe we should imprison these men until the end of the siege and decide what to do with them when we return home. Until then, we will shelve this topic.”

“Yes sir,” Jiang spat through his teeth as civilly as he could. Still, Mimi could see the pointed glare he gave Lu Ten before turning away from the young commander. Lu Ten ignored it and simply stared across the table. The tension between the two men was palpable, and everyone was eager to follow Iroh’s advice and move to less dangerous waters.

* * *

Kai had no idea how long he had been cooped up in the dark, somewhat cramped cell. Well, that was not entirely true – enough time had passed for Kai to feel his muscles weaken and a fair amount of facial hair to grow. They – being his captors – had not been starved him, but he also was not getting enough food to keep up a daily exercise routine beyond basic stretches and light workouts.

What really got him was the boredom. There simply was not much to do in captivity, and Kai passed the days by staring at the earthen ceiling. Lethargy frequently overtook him as he did nothing, and sleep was a constant companion even though he wished he could be awake. The seconds slipped into minutes that morphed into hours that accumulated into days that turned into weeks, and at the end of it all, Kai was still where he began, sitting on the ground in near darkness.

The small amount of light that an outside torch provided for his cell was suddenly covered, and Kai’s head perked up when he noticed. It meant that someone was standing outside, and only one person ever came to visit – his sole jailer, and perhaps his sole companion in the desolate existence he now found himself in.

There were two reasons Kai was excited. The first was that someone was outside. Sometimes she stayed to chat for a few minutes, other times she left after a single word, but just the thought of human interaction kept him sane day to day. The second reason was food. Kai would never refuse food, and food was always good.

“Lunch,” the female voice intoned, and a tray of the same food he ate everyday slid in. The woman’s voice was noticeably dull today, causing Kai to scrunch his brow even as he reached for his food. As he chewed on a mouthful of rice, he noticed the light from outside his cell still being partially blocked. Was she just standing outside quietly? Why? In spite of his natural curiosity, he kept quiet, slowly chewing on his food as he sat in the darkness. A few minutes passed, with the shadow wavering slightly as if trying to decide whether to leave or not.

“My friend died today,” a voice suddenly came from outside Kai’s cell. He slowly processed the words as he placed his chopsticks on his bowl, swallowing the last mouthful of rice in his mouth.

“I… see,” Kai replied. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“There was a fight in the morning,” she continued. “We got caught up with a group of firebenders, and the last time I saw him alive–,” she stopped, and Kai could hear a quiet sniffle from outside. “I was facing a firebender, and then he was in front of me. He took a hit that would’ve killed me.” Another pause. “He was my best friend.”

Kai grimaced, not knowing exactly what to say. Even the wittiest person would have little to say – how would one comfort their captor in the face of a great personal loss?

Before Kai could speak up, however, she continued again. “I don’t even know why I’m talking to you. You’re one of them – a Fire Nation soldier that wants to conquer the world. You’re the enemy, and you’re nothing more than ants to be stomped out!”

“Hey,” Kai replied, a look of affront flicking across his face. “That’s not fair at all. You know nothing about me, much less who I am and what I want. You think you’ve got it bad? Your buddies killed _my_ best friend in front of me.” He felt anger swell up inside him, roaring like an angry dragon. How dare she, someone who knew nothing about him, judge him like a worthless insect? “How do you think I’ve felt for the past – I don’t know – however much time you dirt-people have kept me here!”

“Dirt-people?” the voice reached a new height of incredulity and disbelief. “You dirt-people? How dare you! You are the one here, in my homeland! You are the invaders, and you dare insult my people and country?”

Kai opened his mouth to retort again, but before he could speak, the figure outside had already walked past the eye-level hole. Without warning, the hole closed, leaving the cell in pitch-black darkness. He closed his mouth and leaned back against the earthen wall as he closed his eyes.

Why did he have to lose his temper with the only guard that was willing to actually interact with him? She had just gone through the same experience Kai still so vividly remembered himself. Why could he not just have empathized and ignored her understandable, if rude, outburst?

He sighed and let sleep take his mind. At least his dreams were not against him like life itself seemed to be.

* * *

The walk was quiet for Mimi and Lu Ten as they made their way back to his tent. The air had just started to become chillier as autumn set in, and Mimi was increasingly thankful for the hard layers of padding and leather that her armor afforded her – a curse in the summer, but quite warm when it became cold.

They reached the tent, and Lu Ten entered first, with Mimi slipping in right after and making sure that the entrance flap was securely tightened so that no one from the outside could enter. When she turned around to face Lu Ten again, she found his lips on hers as he brought her into a warm embrace.

“That bad today, huh?” Mimi whispered as they pulled apart. Lu Ten nodded, and she went in for another kiss. “Maybe we should talk about it?”

“That’s probably a better idea,” Lu Ten admitted, and the couple sat down on his bed. Lu Ten sighed and fell onto his side, resting his head on Mimi’s lap. Absentmindedly, she brushed his hair with a hand as he flopped an arm over the side of the bed.

“What’s bothering you? Is it Jiang again?”

“Jiang’s a part of it, for sure,” Lu Ten replied. “He’s just… insufferable. Arrogant and condescending, like he knows everything even though he’s one of the most disconnected commanders I’ve ever seen.”

“Sounds like Jiang, alright,” Mimi murmured. “Back when I was a Bubai Warrior under him, he was always a hardass. That’s just his style. Can’t doubt his skill in the battlefield though – he’s won many battles and will probably make general sooner or later.”

Lu Ten huffed. “You’re right. I know father talks a lot about him, says he’s a good general that can do great things for the entire nation. But he’s not infallible, and I feel like he’s blind to some of the dangers that face the army now.”

“Like what?” Mimi asked, curious. Lu Ten took a deep breath and sat up, turning to look at her.

“Do you know how long we’ve been here, at Ba Sing Se?”

“Um, maybe a year and a half?”

“About seventeen months, to be more precise. In that time, do you know how many men we have lost?”

Mimi shook her head.

“We marched on the Outer Wall with fifty thousand men – the largest, greatest army ever assembled in the history of the Fire Nation. Today, seventeen months later, we have just over thirty thousand.”

Mimi gasped. “How? Twenty thousand soldiers…”

“Gone,” Lu Ten grimly said. “They died in the initial siege, the invasion of the Agrarian Zone, or through skirmishes and ambushes in the last half-year. No small number of troops have deserted as well, though not at the scale of the men we’ve lost to battle and sickness. We’ve shifted battalions around constantly to obscure those losses. Now, knowing that we have only sixty percent of the army we originally had, what do you think our strength in battle is like?”

“… sixty percent?” Mimi hesitantly responded.

Lu Ten mirthlessly laughed. “A common mistake – ‘oh, the general marched out with a thousand men, why did he lose against five hundred defenders?’ The answer is fairly simple: not every soldier fights. To support every fighting soldier, there needs to be people behind them. Messengers, cooks, foragers, scouts, dedicated guards, officers – these are all people that may never pick up a spear or firebend on the field of battle, but they are all still integral parts of the army. So that army of a thousand that the general brought to fight may really only have three or four hundred men ready to fight in a battle at the end, and so they lose.”

“So what you’re saying is that this army may only have a few thousand soldiers that can actually fight right now?”

“It’s not that bad – maybe fifteen thousand men can take to the field if need be. That’s enough to crush most every army the Earth Kingdom has fielded in the last decade. We could always force every man into battle, but that would be desperation and the effective end of that army’s ability to function. The only reason we can siege a city across the world is because the Fire Nation Army has the finest supply trains in the world, and that logistics only works because of the support troops we task to maintain it. In the absence of those support troops, the army collapses.”

Lu Ten rubbed temples of his head as he continued. “It’s a big mess, and I fear the only solution for it all.”

“What is the solution?” Mimi asked.

He turned to her again, hands falling down. “The only solution is to retreat.”

“What? That’s crazy – how can we retreat when we’re so close?”

Lu Ten shook his head. “At the end of every day, our chances of taking Ba Sing Se slips a little more from our grasp. More men die, less food and supplies are left – these are compounding issues that could threaten the lives of every Fire Nation soldier here, in this camp.”

Mimi swallowed. “The soldiers would never go for that. You’d face a mutiny.”

Lu Ten took a deep breath. “I know. That’s why it can’t ever happen… and why I think we’re all doomed. It would require a man stronger than me to order this army to leave when they feel they’re so close to victory.”

“So this is what’s been weighing on you this whole time,” Mimi whispered as she put a hand on his back, rubbing gently in circles as Lu Ten held his head in his hands. “I’m sure this will all be fine. We’ll win. I’m sure of it.” Lu Ten looked at her with a forlorn expression. Leaning in, Mimi pulled him into a kiss that only deepened as they both fell backward onto the bed, their hands exploring and their passion growing.

* * *

Wen felt a measure of apprehension as she walked toward _that_ cell with a dinner tray in her hands. It had been six or seven hours since she was here, but the words that both of them yelled echoed in her mind. She winced as she recalled some of her harsher choice words, but at the time, it was easily justifiable given the slur he had thrown at her. Still, it was unbecoming for her to lower herself to that standard, even if she was right. She would be the better person.

As she came to a stop, she realized that the hole that was meant to give him light into his cell had been closed for a good six hours. For a second, she panicked even more because that closed off the cell’s only access to the air that circulated in the hallways, but then relaxed as she remembered that the earthen walls were fairly porous and would not unduly impede airflow.

The first thing she did was bend open the eye-level hole that she had previously closed, allowing some of the torch light in the hallway back into the cell. Then she earthbent open a small opening on the ground, sliding in the tray of food like she had for the past two months.

“Oh,” she heard the voice inside the cell speak. “You’re back.”

“Yes,” Wen replied, keeping her voice steady. She knew what she wanted to do, but she would only do it if he gave her what she deserved in return. “Dinner time.”

There was a pause before the voice inside the cell muttered, “thanks,” and she heard the sound of a metal tray sliding against the earth. As she listened to him eat, she leaned her head against the wall and waited. It was not long before the sounds of chewing stopped, and the sound of chopsticks being placed down told Wen everything she needed to know.

“I’m sorry,” the voice quietly said, just loud enough for Wen, with her head by the hole in the wall, to hear. “I said some things I shouldn’t have.”

Wen swallowed. “Me too. I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have taken my anger out on you.”

“It’s understandable,” the voice replied. There was the sound of him shifting his weight inside the cell. “I get that. I felt it too, back when Zh– back when Zheng died.”

“Zheng?”

“My friend. He was killed just before I was captured. You were there.”

Wen thought back to how this prisoner had been captured, and she finally remembered – a hot summer day and an ambush on a high-priority target. There had been firebenders, but they were easily dispatched when outnumbered and caught off guard. There were also some non-bender soldiers, but against earthbenders, they could do little. There had been one Fire Nation soldier who, against all odds, managed to kill an earthbender. She did not know the earthbender who fell that day, but it was a surprising turn of events in a battle that should have been straightforward and easy for them. Da Gou was the one who finally stopped that soldier.

“I remember,” she quietly said. “I… I’m sorry. Watching your friend die in front of you is terrible.”

There was a mirthless laugh from inside the cell. “Well,” he replied. “I guess that makes two of us, huh?”

“Maybe, yeah.”

There was a silence between the two. It was not uncomfortable, but still, Wen expected one of them to say something. It felt like there was a larger, unspoken question that was begging to be asked. Something that both of them knew, but neither were sure of the answer to.

“Why am I here?”

Wen blinked. “Because we captured you?”

A sigh from inside the cell. “No, no, not the cell specifically. But why am I here, in Ba Sing Se?”

“Well, technically, you’re not in the city itself. We’re underground right now, outside of the Inner Wall.”

Another laugh. “Really? Well, I guess underground prison cells aren’t the hardest thing for earthbenders to make.” He paused for a moment. “But the same question. Why am I even here for, fighting in a war that started so long ago and fighting in the same spot that someone like me a hundred years ago was at? Why are we even fighting?”

“I don’t know,” Wen answered truthfully. “Someone, a long time ago, probably knew the answer, but I didn’t even know about the war until I was a teenager. All I know is that I fight because you and the rest of the Fire Nation were outside of my home and someone ordered me to stand against you all. I did what I felt was right. Why are you here?”

He shifted inside the cell again, and when he spoke, Wen realized that he had moved so that his back was against the wall that she herself was leaning against. “Why am I here?” he repeated. “Well, to tell you the truth, I’m honestly not sure. I guess this is just me doing my duty for my nation. I didn’t have much else back home, so I signed up. See the world and bring glory to the Fire Nation – all that stuff.”

“So fighting was what you wanted?”

“No,” he muttered. “I didn’t expect to get caught up in such a large battle. Most soldiers never see this kind of action in their lives. I just did what everyone expected me to do. What about you? How’s it possible that you didn’t even know about the war?”

Wen fidgeted a little at the question. “I grew up in the Inner Ring.”

“Inner Ring?”

“It’s the innermost part of the city. My father’s a minister, so I lived in an affluent part of the city. When I discovered that I was a natural at earthbending, my father made sure I had the best teachers Ba Sing Se has to offer.”

He ahh-ed at her explanation. “So you’re a rich girl.”

“I resent that,” Wen snapped. This was why she hated telling others about her childhood – when they realized that she had grown up in wealth, their attitudes immediately shifted as if she was unable to relate to others.

“Hey, no offense meant,” he quickly replied. “It’s just that I’ve never really talked with anyone who could go a day without working. I’m from a small village, and we were all about the same being equally poor.”

“I see. Well, growing up in the Inner Ring meant that the war was never mentioned to us, so it wasn’t until I had signed up to join the army that I was told.”

“Wait, you joined the army? Your father was okay with that?”

“No, he hated it. But thankfully for me, he didn’t know about it until a year after he thought I was at university. He never really paid much attention anyway. By that point, I was already making my way through the ranks, and he had to accept that it was what I wanted to do. I’m pretty sure he did pull some strings to get me a posting back in the Inner Ring though.”

“So that was your rebel phase, huh?”

“Seriously?”

“Hey, I’m gonna call it like I see it. I’ve read enough books to get the general idea – rich girl has a streak of rebellion and does something her parents wouldn’t approve of. I dig that.”

Wen blushed. It _did_ quite accurately describe her life. “Well, behold, for here I am in the flesh.” She gesticulated for dramatic effect, even though he had no way of seeing her. “Let it be known that even fiction writers can touch upon the truth from time to time.”

“Well, you say that, but the wall between us makes it kind of hard for me to see that, and the light isn’t exactly easy on my eyes considering I’ve been down here for Agni knows how long.”

“You’re telling me you haven’t been keeping track of the days by scratching into the wall or whatever? That’s a pretty common trope too for prisoners.”

There was a pause, and then Wen felt him slap the wall between them.

“I’m an idiot. Why didn’t I think of that?”

“I think you said it pretty well yourself.”

He laughed, and the good humor was infectious, so she joined in as well. It was almost cathartic to connect with someone in their circumstances, and there was an inherent appeal to the idea that two natural enemies could come together.

“You know,” he said, as he struggled to contain his laughter, “I don’t actually know your name. You do have a name, right?”

“Indeed, my good Hotman. Yes I do.”

“Agh, don’t call me that. It sounds like something out of a classical play.”

“But that’s exactly why it’s so endearing, isn’t it dear hotman?”

Wen could imagine him rolling his eyes.

“Alright, name?”

“I’m Wen,” she quickly said. “Wen Jia.”

“I’m Kai,” he said just as quickly.

“Just Kai?” She did not know what Fire Nation names were usually like, but the lack of a family name was, in the Earth Kingdom, a noteworthy occurrence.

There was a brief pause. “Just Kai,” he affirmed, something indescribable in his voice.

“Well, Just Kai, it’s nice to finally meet you. For real.”

“Save that for when I get out of here – and I will.”

Wen knocked on the wall with a fist. “Well, when you can earthbend this out of the way, I’ll bow down to you.” She began to walk away with a lighter heart than when she arrived. Out of all of the experiences she had since going against her father and joining the army, this one was by far the strangest. Could she, three years ago, have seen herself finding comradery with a _Fire Nation soldier_ of all people? Probably not. Yet, there was something enlightening about the whole thing.

He – no, Kai was not so different from her. Not at all. They were just two people, separated by birth and geography. What made them enemies that had to fight to the death? Was it for their nations? Honor? She was beginning to think that there was nothing at all that said they had to be fighting. They were both in a war that had long lost its sense of purpose except to those that stood to gain everything – the rest of them were just pawns in a game of chess whose only victor was Death.

That was a simultaneously chilling and illuminating thought.


	4. Winter

**4\. Winter**

The shadowy figures moved swiftly under the cover of night. More importantly, they were as silent as the still earth, passing by patrols of bundled-up red-uniformed guards as they ignored the chilling bite of winter’s wind. Their thin uniforms would have been an issue had they been out in the cold; however, these were no normal shadowy figures in the night, for they were the Dai Li of Ba Sing Se.

And the earth, with its warmth and security from the seasons, was their steadfast ally.

The Dai Li agents, who numbered six in total, tunneled in and out of the earth, drilling under the lines of Fire Nation patrols and surfacing when they could for greater speed on land. No doubt they would have been warmer if they only stayed underground, but even for elite earthbenders, constantly digging through the earth was a tedious effort compared to skiing on the surface. For such a dangerous mission, they would need to preserve all the strength they could. They carried cloth sacks on their back, the only out-of-place implement on their otherwise standard uniforms.

As they neared the main encampment of the Fire Nation army, the number of Fire Nation soldiers standing guard increased, forcing the furtive earthbenders underground as they made their way toward their goal. Slowly, they moved through the earth toward their target. The six agents came to a stop in silent understanding. Simultaneously, they burst into the air, breaking the earth with considerably less noise than one might expect.

There was no living soul apart from the six Dai Li agents. Instead, there were bundles of wheat, barrels of rice, racks of dried meats, and the occasional basket of something more luxurious like fruit or spices. Racks of spears and swords were also littered throughout the vast building, along with suits of armor. The lead Dai Li agent smirked. They were in the right place, and with no opposition at all.

The Dai Li had the Fire Nation army by the jugular now, with its main store of food and supplies at their mercy.

A quick hand motion brought all six agents into motion, splitting off in pre-planned directions. The lead Dai Li agent pulled his cloth sack off of his back and put it on the ground. Reaching inside, he pulled out a large jar which he promptly uncapped. Tilting the jar, he poured out its viscous contents over the valuable food and other goods in the supply store.

“Ready?” he uttered, the single word causing the other Dai Li agents to turn to him. The other five nodded, quickly capping their jars and putting their cloth sacks back on their backs. The lead Dai Li agent, however, simply put his jar back into his sack and reached into it, pulling out a small, unlit torch.

“Go,” he whispered, gesturing to the hole in the ground. Without another sound, the five Dai Li agents swiftly disappeared down the hole they had tunneled in through, leaving the last Dai Li agent alone with a torch in his hand. Pulling out a small firesteel and a piece of flint from his pocket, he held the piece of flint right over the torch on the ground and struck it with the firesteel. A cascade of sparks fell onto the tip of the unlit torch, quickly starting a small flame that the Dai Li agent fanned into a stronger fire. With a smirk, he tossed the lit torch onto a puddle of the oil that they had poured as he jumped into the hole, closing it behind him as the oil caught fire.

The other five Dai Li agents were waiting for him, and together, they sped off as the rumblings of many frantic footsteps and movements stampeded above them.

Their mission had been completed. An irreversible, almost fatal blow had been dealt to the Fire Nation army of General Iroh.

* * *

Kai was shaken awake by the rumblings of the earth. His eyes flickered wildly as he tried to make sense of his surroundings with the whispers of sleep still fighting to pull him back, but he slapped the last of that out of his system as he sat up on his small cot. The thin cloth that was his blanket would have been deadly in the winter were he in a tent, but underground, the bulk of the winter weather was avoided by the protection of the earth.

“What’s going on?” he whispered to himself in the darkness. He stood up, walking over to the small eyehole that gave him a little hint of light from the outside. Every five or so seconds, someone ran by, but no one stopped at his cell. Finally, the stream of people stopped, and an unnerving silence resumed. Kai slumped back down onto the ground, taking a deep breath as he sat.

Something was happening. He didn’t know what yet, but it was something important.

* * *

Mimi woke up with a groan as she stared at the ceiling of the tent, immediately cursing her sore joints and bones. Hot stew would hit the spot for her, but there was increasingly little of that to be found in the camp over the past two weeks. The army had been running on maintenance rations and she, like every other Fire Nation soldier, felt the gnawing hunger crunch in as their bodies slowly withered.

She rolled onto her side and gently brushed Lu Ten’s long hair. The prince was still asleep, a luxury that she could afford to give him for only a few minutes longer. The past two weeks had been hard on all of them, but Lu Ten had taken more of the brunt than most. Like his soldiers, he ate only the rations that were fairly allocated to him; though Mimi had no evidence, she would bet that some of the other officers were probably secretly requisitioning extras for themselves. On top of the issues facing the common soldier, he also had the responsibilities of command now that he oversaw half of the army.

The increasingly louder sounds of footsteps outside of the tent became impossible to ignore as the stronger morning patrols replaced the last of the tired night patrols. Mimi shook Lu Ten’s shoulder a few times, causing the prince to open his eyes and rapidly blink as he readjusted to the world.

“Morning already?” he whispered, groaning as stretched out his arms and back and sat up in the bed.

“Unfortunately,” Mimi wryly replied, grimacing. “Duty calls.”

Lu Ten sighed, popping his neck with a turn of his head. “I’m not young anymore, I guess. I don’t remember feeling this tired.”

“The rationing doesn’t help.”

“Mm.”

Silence reigned as Lu Ten swung his feet off the side of the bed, his back to Mimi.

“You know, you’re the commander,” Mimi began. Lu Ten cut her off with a raised hand.

“It’s not right for me to abuse my position and authority for extra rations. I know the others do that, but I won’t.”

“The soldiers would understand.”

Lu Ten turned around. “Maybe. But they’d still resent it, deep in their hearts. I am as much as a soldier as anyone else in this army, and we all should share the same burdens.”

Mimi crawled across the small bed and wrapped her arms around Lu Ten from the back. “You’re too good for this world, you know that?”

He snorted. “I wish.” Mimi let her arms fall as Lu Ten stood up, flexing his back and arms as he did so. “Where’s my shirt?”

“I think you left it by the table last night where… you know.”

“Ah.”

* * *

Wen quickly walked down the hallway, struggling to contain her fear as she held a bundle of clothes close to her chest. Her mind raced with hesitation and anxiety as she considered what she was about to do. But she had no choice. Or at least, it did not feel as if she had any other real choice.

If she did nothing, Kai would die.

She came to a stop in front of the wall that she had spent so much time in the past half-year standing in front. It was a corner of the underground complex that almost no one came through except her, and Kai’s cell was the only one still being utilized here – most of the other cells were on a lower level, deeper than the main area utilized by the earthbenders.

Not that it mattered, now that they were executing the prisoners. And this was why she now found herself in front of Kai’s cell.

“Kai?” she quietly spoke. There was the sound of shifting inside the cell.

“Yeah?” he replied.

She paused for a moment, mentally taking a deep breath to prepare herself for the plunge. With a hand, she bent open the cell, letting light into the small room for the first time in months.

“Agh,” the man inside the cell grunted as he fell backward. “A little warning next time?”

“There won’t be one,” Wen scoffed. She tossed the bundle of clothes at him. “Change. Quickly.”

He removed his hand from his face as he blinked and stared upward. _So this was Kai_. It was the first time really seeing each other’s face for both of them. She examined his features, slightly thinner than healthy from captivity but otherwise fine. He was not the most attractive man she had ever seen, but he was not unpleasant to look at either. His scraggily facial hair, however, left quite a bit to be desired, and in her opinion, knocked a point off of his total if she had to be brutally honest.

For his part, he just stared at her in silence. After a few seconds, she huffed. “You done yet? Hurry and get dressed. We don’t have much time.”

“Huh,” Kai responded, grabbing the clothes. “Somebody’s grumpy.”

“Because I’m sticking my neck out for you. I didn’t have to do this, you know?”

Kai’s face was impassive at this. “I see. Just give me a little privacy, yeah?”

Wen quickly nodded and slid the wall back up.

“Wait! I can’t really see anything – where did I even put those clothes?”

She groaned. “Fine,” she said, opening a small hole just above her head height on the wall. About a minute passed with the only sounds being those of Kai grunting as he changed clothes and hopped on a foot.

“Why are these pants so tight? And the shirt’s way too big.”

“I stole them,” she said with a flat tone. “Are you done now?”

“Yeah.”

Wen quickly slid the wall back down, revealing Kai in a mostly authentic Earth Kingdom soldier’s uniform. His short, uneven beard and moustache needed trimming or complete shaving and his uniform looked oddly sized for him, but otherwise, it would pass muster.

“Come on,” Wen gestured, “we have to go.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Kai faux-saluted as he stepped out of the cell, which Wen quickly closed. “Corporal… uh, Lee, at your service.”

“At this rate, you’ll be a private by nightfall,” Wen grumbled as she led Kai through the maze of hallways that constituted the underground base. A few minutes passed in silence as Wen carefully checked each corner before walking down the path she had planned beforehand.

“Where are you taking me?” Kai asked, dutifully following behind Wen.

“There’s a new group of soldiers from the city that came in today for the attack,” she quickly replied, “that you can blend into. But only if we hurry.”

“You’re kidding.”

Wen shook her head, turning around the corner. “I wish–”

She cut off as she walked into a man’s back as she rounded the corner. Wen fell backward slightly as the man turned around, revealing an imposing Earth Kingdom officer with a dark, medium-length beard. He looked down at both Wen and Kai, his eyes narrowed in a glare.

“Ge- General How, I didn’t see you there,” Wen stuttered, trying to keep her calm. Bumping into her commanding officer’s commanding officer – the commanding officer of _all_ Earth Kingdom forces, in fact – was not her idea of remaining inconspicuous.

“I can see that much…” General How began, trailing off with narrowed eyes.

“Captain Wen,” Wen supplied. “Under the command of Commander Da Gou.”

“I see,” the eminent general replied. “I’ll forget about this incident this time, but you best take care and pay more attention to your surroundings.”

Wen hurriedly nodded, grateful for the small slap on the wrist as payment for getting out of a potentially risky situation. However, before she could lead Kai past How, the older man raised a hand and walked up to Kai. The incognito Fire Nation soldier in question gulped as How leaned over and came face-to-face with him, closely examining Kai’s features.

“It seems we have an impropriety at hand,” General How gravely stated, his cold glare falling upon Wen and Kai.

* * *

Mimi kept an impassive expression on her face as she walked closely behind Lu Ten. It had taken some time for them to prepare for the day, but now they were walking between the tents in the middle of the Fire Nation camp, heading toward the command tent as usual.

To her, it was very clear from the faces of the men that walked past them that morale in the army was hanging by a thin thread. Unkempt appearances, thinning physiques, downward expressions – all were common sights. Not a single common soldier was spared from the rationing that had been implemented, and as a result, the entire army was slowly degrading day by day as their bodies withered along with their spirits.

Lu Ten’s expression was similarly hard, but he walked with a resolute determination in front of Mimi. She could not help but admire that drive that seemed to be an eternally burning fire within him. He had the will to better those around him and the abilities to make it reality.

“Sir,” both of the command tent guards saluted as they approached. Their voices were low and scratchy. Lu Ten simply nodded and walked in, Mimi following close behind.

The chatter in the command tent was the same level of frenetic frenzy that it had been since the Incident, so Mimi paid it little heed as she walked with Lu Ten to the back of the tent. There, the various commanders of the army, along with General Iroh himself, were already seated and waiting.

“Lu Ten,” Iroh spoke up, smiling as he saw his son, “we were just having some tea while waiting for you.” Lu Ten, for his part, preemptively put up a hand to decline the generous offer he knew was coming from his father.

“We should get started with the important matters of the day,” Lu Ten stated in a conciliatory tone.

Iroh looked at his son for a second before he nodded. “Of course, of course,” the general enthusiastically agreed, before waving his hand around the room. “See, my son will be a finer general than me in no time at all.” There were a few chuckles around the table, but the mood being as it was, humor was scarce.

Commander Jiang cleared his throat, causing everyone to look at him. “I believe that my scouts’ report is the most concerning issue today.” He pulled out a scroll, unfolding it as he looked around. “The long-awaited force from Omashu is finally here. They are less than a day’s march from the Outer Wall and subsequently us. What we’ve just learned, however, is that there is another force that will strike at the same time.”

Murmurs filled the table. “Another force?” Commander Jiao asked with a hint of incredulity in his voice. “How can that be? What other Earth Kingdom city can afford to send out any substantial number of troops?”

Jiang sighed as he put down the scroll. “This second force is from Ba Sing Se itself. One of my finest captains died to bring us this information, so you can all be sure that it is very accurate. My Bubai Warriors have observed these hidden troop movements themselves.”

Mimi shifted uncomfortably from her position at the side of the tent. As a former captain of the Bubai Warriors herself, it was not unlikely that she would have been out there with her men to scout out the enemy. Perhaps her life would have been the one on the line or indeed lost entirely. But then she would not have met Lu Ten…

“This is grave news indeed,” Iroh rumbled, stroking his long beard. “How large are these two armies?”

Jiang turned to face his general directly. “The Omashu army has been estimated to be around seventy-five hundred to ten thousand men. We’re less sure of how large the army from Ba Sing Se will be, but my scouts estimated that was likely much smaller than the Omashu army – maybe half the size or less.”

“So upward of ten to fifteen thousand men,” Lu Ten whispered to himself, drawing attention from the rest of the table. “That nearly matches our own strength, especially if the Ba Sing Se army is larger than we expect. We’d need virtually every soldier, battle-ready or not, to fight in that case.”

“It’s worse than you think,” Jiao rumbled, his fists clenched. “Because the Omashu army is coming from the southwest and the Ba Sing Se army is coming from the city proper, our encampment is going to be surrounded. If we even try to run, we’d be caught in a pincer movement.”

“That is unacceptable,” Iroh spoke up. All of his commanders looked at him. “We must do whatever we can to avoid an envelopment of the army, or we will all lose our lives here at Ba Sing Se.”

There was a pause.

“What if we… split the army?” Lu Ten suggested.

Every pair of eyes in the command tent, including Mimi’s, fell on him.

“That’s ludicrous,” Jiang immediately replied.

“Why?” Lu Ten quickly rebutted, leaving the older man at a loss of words.

“Be- because that makes no sense,” Jiang finally spluttered, settling on an argument to use. “Military wisdom has always dictated that the army stays together to preserve its strength – splitting the army will only fracture its integrity and leave two weaker halves.”

“But,” Lu Ten picked up just as Jiang finished, “that doesn’t account for the danger of a double envelopment. If we split the army in two – one force to confront the Omashu army and the other to face the Ba Sing Se one – then we may have a chance to defeat both armies separately before they can overwhelm us. If we don’t split and instead opt to hold the center, which is our encampment, then we will be surrounded and defeated. Even if we decide to focus on one of the enemy armies first before the other, the size of our army would give them cause for concern and to fall back, whereas a smaller force would entice them to attack.”

The stunned silence was broken by Iroh’s booming laughter. “I feel like my son is speaking wisdom. Conventional? Perhaps not, but he makes a compelling argument. What are all of your opinions?”

“I think Commander Lu Ten has a point,” Jiao spoke up, nodding as he did so. Behind him, his two captains were nodding as well. “It’s not what I would do if I were in command, but this is definitely an exceptional circumstance. Perhaps there is merit to this strategy.”

Around the table, others indicated their agreement. Even Jiang grunted an affirmative, and Lu Ten turned and looked at his father expectantly.

“It seems settled then,” Iroh said with a gleam in his eye. “We will split the army in two and take the initiative to defeat the Earth Kingdom before they reach us.”

He took another sip of his tea and sighed with satisfaction, savoring the aroma as their fates were decided.

* * *

“I can’t believe that all How noticed was your… scraggly face,” Wen huffed as she vaguely gestured, her exasperation only matched by Kai’s mirth.

“Hey, that _scraggly face_ is a nice beard and moustache,” he replied, slowly shaving off the offending facial hair.

“In no way can that be considered legitimate facial hair. That’s an insult to real facial hair everywhere,” she retorted, pointing at the fallen hair in the sink of the barracks.

“Mhm,” Kai intoned, trimming off the last of his admittedly scraggly facial hair. “ _Either grow it all out or shave it all off, soldier_ ,” Kai quoted, adopting a gruffer voice to imitate General How’s deeper sound. “At least he didn’t nitpick about the uniform.” Kai put the razor down and examined his cleanly shaven visage. “Huh.”

“What?”

Kai looked at his reflection. “It’s just… this is the first time I’ve seen myself in a while. I almost don’t recognize myself anymore.”

Wen leaned in to see his reflection as well. She pursed her lips, begrudgingly admitting to herself that the point he had lost earlier had been completely and deservedly earned back. “You ready yet?”

“Uh huh,” Kai quickly replied, wiping any water off his face with a towel before turning to face Wen. “Lead the way.”

Wen poked her head out of the barracks and made sure the coast was clear before waving for Kai to follow. The two of them, clad in Earth Kingdom green, walked with their spears down the dimly lit hallway until they reached a larger chamber. Many Earth Kingdom soldiers were already standing in formation, and instead of a wall at the far end of the chamber, there was a wide ramp that led to the sunlight and blue sky of the surface. The mass of soldiers was split into two groups, and at the head of the groups, General How stood on a raised podium.

“Men of the Earth Kingdom!” How bellowed as Kai and Wen hurriedly found spots at the back of the formations to stand with the rest of the soldiers. “I do not need to remind any of you of the burdens that we carry nor of the importance of today, so I will be brief.” He paused. “Today… is **the** day! The day when we take back our land, so that our people may be free from the tyranny of the Fire Nation! Today is the day when we cast out these invaders and show them the true might of earth! To victory!”

“Victory!” the soldiers chanted in a roar, raising their spears with unabated enthusiasm. Wen joined in naturally, but Kai found himself conflicted as he raised his own spear. Regardless of his disguise, he was a Fire Nation citizen, born and raised. Even as part of a ruse, he was cheering for the defeat of his nation. His mind called him a traitor.

But another, newer part of him whispered out to him too. Why did he need to have loyalty to a nation that barely knew he existed and treated him only as a disposable spear, ready to be thrown away after its steel head had gone dull and the wooden shaft had cracked? He had been forced to cross the world to fight in a war that he had no stake in or reason to be a part of.

So, Kai stood there, his mouth open in silence, his arm and spear raised without motion, his body shaking from more than just the might of the Earth Kingdom or the heat of the Fire Nation running through his veins.

* * *

“Mimi, I want you to stay behind.”

Mimi gaped at him with wide eyes as she came to a stop behind him. They were just outside the command tent, and although every now and then, a passing soldier could see them, neither cared very much about their public appearances.

“No, I won’t!” she retorted, indignation in her voice even though she knew this was an argument that she could not win. “I won’t leave your side!”

Lu Ten pursed his lips.

“Mimi,” he began, but he stopped when Mimi lunged forward and took him by both shoulders.

“Please, Lu Ten, don’t leave me behind. Let me be by your side, here and out there. I want to fight beside you.”

He shook his head. “No, Mimi, you can’t. You know you can’t.”

“Don’t leave me like this,” Mimi cried, looking up into Lu Ten’s golden eyes with tears in her own. “I don’t want you to leave me.”

Lu Ten was crying now too, tears falling out of his eyes no matter how hard he squeezed them shut. “I don’t want to leave you either, but it’s the only way. Please,” he pleaded, “just stay here. Stay safe.”

Mimi buried her head in his chest. “I know. But it feels wrong.”

Lu Ten gently kissed the top of her head, ignoring the tears that streaked down his cheeks, ignoring the stares of soldiers that walked past. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Before she could say anything else, however, he pulled away, flinging one last look of longing behind him as he strode away. Toward his duty.

Toward his destiny.

Even though she understood why he had to leave, there was an aching hole in Mimi’s chest, and she gently placed one hand on her abdomen as she watched the love of her life walk away for what felt like could be the last time.

* * *

“Stay low,” Wen whispered, as their entire company moved forward slowly and methodically. They were partially hidden by the tall grasses, but Wen was crouched even lower than most, her head almost entirely covered by the foliage. Unlike her, Kai carried a spear with him, which he held at an angle to keep from standing out too much.

“Why?”

“The first volley of arrows and fire will always go for the people that immediately stand up to fight,” Wen explained. “If you stay low, you’ll avoid that and have a fighting chance.”

Kai pondered her words. It made sense. But “a fighting chance” – that cut deeper than she perhaps intended it to. What she called a fighting chance for the Earth Kingdom soldier meant an opportunity to kill a Fire Nation soldier. For all the events that had happened to him, for all the thoughts he had considered, killing a Fire Nation soldier was something that he was not sure he could do.

_I’ll cross that bridge when– no, if I get there_ , he thought to himself, letting that thought float away on the winter wind.

“It’s a little chilly,” Kai absentmindedly noted. The last time he had breathed fresh, surface air, it had been the hot summer of Ba Sing Se. Now, even with the sun shining between the occasional errant cloud, it was considerably colder.

Wen turned to look at him. “It’s winter. I don’t know what it’s like for you back where you’re from, but even though it doesn’t snow as much here like it does in the north, it still gets pretty cold, especially at night.”

“Well, let’s wrap this quick then, yeah? We could all go home early if we work hard,” Kai joked, cracking a wide smile as he tried levity in the face of anxiety. Wen rolled her eyes, but the corners of her lips curled upward at the poor, if appreciated, attempt at humor.

She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could make a sound, there was a sharp whistling sound that whizzed past her, as well as a dull grunt and a quick whoosh of air. Suddenly–

“Fire Nation!” a soldier – Kai did not know if he was Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom – yelled, and all hell broke loose.

“Down!” Wen grunted, forcing Kai flat to the ground with one arm as a volley of arrows and spurts of fire flew overhead past them. Without another word, Wen got up and began earthbending, and Kai squeezed his eyes shut hard.

_Breathe in_. _Breathe out_. _In. Out_.

He was going to be facing Fire Nation soldiers; some of them were just like him, drafted and sent across the world without any consideration to their own wants and desires. But what choice did he have? Would he kill so that he could live? Was that hypocritical of him?

_Deep breath in_. _Deep breath out_.

There was no use overthinking it.

His eyes wide open, Kai got up and brandished his spear, ready to fight for his own survival.

* * *

Lu Ten grunted as he shot off another blast of fire at the group of Earth Kingdom soldiers that were running toward him. Sweat dripped down his brow, forcing him to wipe them before they stung his eyes.

“Hold the line!” he yelled, forcing some of the soldiers behind him, who were half-turned in retreat, to look at him. “We hold the line here!”

Beside Lu Ten, a Fire Nation soldier – a non-bender with a sword in his hand – took a chunk of earth to the torso, crushing his chest plate and sending him down to the ground with a grunt. The soldier did not stir again.

“Sir!” a soldier that ran up to him cried, his spear pointed toward the air as he came to a stop behind Lu Ten. “There’s a messenger at the rear lines for you! It’s urgent!” The soldier held up a hand to block an explosion of dirt from getting into his eyes, but he looked up at Lu Ten with expectation.

Lu Ten looked backward with a hesitant expression. If there was a messenger with urgent information, then it was likely important. But, as a commander and a soldier first, he felt that everlasting tug to stay at the front with his men, fighting until their last breath.

“Sir!” the soldier snapped him out of his momentary reverie. “The messenger!”

“I’ll go,” Lu Ten finally said, squeezing the man’s shoulder. “Hold the line.”

“Yes sir!” the soldier yelled as he replaced Lu Ten on the front line with his shield and spear at the ready. “For the Fire Nation!”

Lu Ten didn’t look back a single time as he ran to the rear line with a handful of soldiers dedicated to guarding his life.

The rear line consisted of a trench of men that acted as a tactical reserve, mainly positioned to relay orders and to watch the flanks for attacks. The hundreds of men that made up the rear line were bored, but more importantly, they were well-rested and ready to be committed at the crucial moment of any given battle. However, among this group, there was one man that stood out from the rest because of his lack of armor – a messenger, and by his lapel, Lu Ten noted that the messenger was from his father’s army. Beside the man, a komodo dragon waited, breathing heavily through its large nostrils.

“Your Highness,” the messenger greeted, Lu Ten nodding in response. “I send word from the General. The southern Earth Kingdom army has begun retreating.”

“Retreating?” Lu Ten exclaimed with a hint of happiness. “So, my father has won?”

The messenger nodded. “When I left, the General’s army was pressing the attack. It is likely that by now, the Earth Kingdom army has been defeated. He also told me to tell you that he will be arriving to reinforce your army as soon as possible and to maintain your defense for as long as possible. Specifically, he said to not advance.”

Lu Ten chuckled. “Sounds like my father. It’s not as if I had any intention of mounting an attack with a half-army.”

“Very good, sir. If that will be all, then I shall return to the General.”

“Yes, yes, you should. Thank you, corporal.”

The messenger saluted and mounted his komodo rhino, speeding off into the distance in the direction he came from. Lu Ten turned to his men, both stationed at the rear line and the ones that had covered his retreat – each soldier openly shared the elation he now felt at the news they had received. The battle would soon be won for the Fire Nation and perhaps even the city of Ba Sing Se itself would be taken on this day.

Before Lu Ten could address his men, however, a cry burst from behind him.

“Sir!” a yell split through the air, causing everyone present to turn and face a Fire Nation soldier that was barreling toward them. “Sir!” One of Lu Ten’s guards stopped the man by grabbing his shoulders.

“What is it, soldier?” the guard growled. Lu Ten quickly gestured for the soldier to be released.

“Is there news? I was just about to return to the front.”

The soldier panted for a few moments, trying to catch his breath. “The front… the front has fallen. The Earth Kingdom forces massed for an attack and broke through the lines.”

Lu Ten’s face paled at the news. Immediately, he spun around and addressed all the soldiers assembled behind him.

“Everyone, follow me! We must take to the battle and stop the Earth Kingdom advance before they completely crush us and catch the General’s army unawares,” Lu Ten yelled. He pointed into the distance “We’ll take that hill and hold it with our lives! Forward, for the Fire Nation!”

The soldiers of the rear line cheered as they surged forward with Lu Ten, who himself had the look of grim determination on his face. The battle he was about to fight in would decide the fate of his father’s army, the invasion of Ba Sing Se, and perhaps even the course of the war itself.

* * *

Wen was not sure how they had gotten caught up in a massive Earth Kingdom push, but one moment she was earthbending against a Fire Nation soldier, and the next she was running forward, Kai by her side, into the Fire Nation army’s line, breaking the red with a sea of tan and green. Nonetheless, she fought like she was a loyal soldier of the Earth Kingdom.

And not like she was someone that wanted to cry out in absolute agony, ready to leave this long, horrible war behind.

“Up that hill!” an Earth Kingdom officer ordered. “Take it and we win this battle for our country!”

The Earth Kingdom forces cheered and surged upward the hill, even as soldiers left and right fell to arrows, spears, and fire from the Fire Nation forces that were entrenched at the top. Wen yelped when a soldier in front of her grunted and fell backward, almost on top of her. She shrugged off the dead man to see an imposing figure at the top of the hill – a young firebender like none she had ever seen. His armor was intricate, though sullied by the dirt and grime of battle, and his firebending skill surpassed any that she had seen before. Large blasts of flame swept the top of the hill, pushing away advancing Earth Kingdom soldiers and keeping others at bay. Even so, she could see the powerful firebender starting to crack under fatigue and pressure; his top knot, which must have once been pristinely put together, was loosening with hairs falling to the side of his head, and his uniform and face showed cuts and signs of injuries. He was clearly faltering under the barrage of the Earth Kingdom.

Almost belatedly, Wen realized that one of those spurts of fire was heading for her, and she hastily threw up a thin wall of earth to protect her and Kai, who was now right behind her. However, the fire broke through the wall easily and splashed against her chestplate, pushing her backward into Kai and sending them both tumbling down the hill.

Her vision faded to black almost instantly.

And then she snapped back into reality.

“Agh,” Kai moaned. Wen felt better than he sounded, but when she opened her eyes, she realized why – she lay on top of Kai, the Fire Nation… soldier? Deserter? At any rate, Kai had broken her fall quite well, which bode better for her than for him.

“You okay?” she whispered, ignoring the cries and screams all around them as they lay at the bottom of the hill.

“Maybe,” he groaned in response, wincing as he sat up. “I hope nothing’s broken.”

“That’s the spirit,” she replied mirthlessly, standing up and extending a hand to him. He took it, stretching his shoulders as he stood up as well.

“I’m not going back up that hill,” Kai said with a serious tone, looking straight into Wen’s eyes. “We won’t make it if we go up there.”

She nodded. “Let’s slowly make our way to the back.” She unclasped the ruined chestplate that had saved her life, letting the warped metal fall to the earth. They both spun around to retreat, but each found a hand on their shoulders as an imposing figure loomed over them.

“Commander Da Gou,” Wen gulped when she realized who hovered over them. The imperious earthbender looked down at them both. One of his eyes was swollen shut and there were a multitude of new scratches on his face, but he still examined them with his good eye.

“Just where do you think you’re going Wen?” he growled. “The battle’s that way. And who is this?” he asked, sizing up Kai.

“This is, uh, Lee,” Wen hesitantly replied. “He’s injured, and I was just, erm, getting him to the healers.”

“And he needs one of my finest earthbenders to do that?” Da Gou seemed unconvinced. “I think that you’re ju–”

Whatever he may have said next was cut off by the most horrific, ugly, and disconcerting cry that any of them had ever heard. It was loud, it was booming, and it was chilling to hear. A great, terrible cry indeed, one that echoed over the battlefield and caused all within its range to shudder at the calamity that had just befallen them. It was like the cry of a dragon.

And then the dragon’s fire was unleashed.

A massive torrent of pure, hot fire rained down upon the Earth Kingdom forces. Some of the faster-reacting earthbenders bent walls of earth, but to little avail as they were melted through along with their bodies. The screams of those that had been subjected to the dragon’s breath filled the air, as did the smell of their charred flesh and burnt metal.

Da Gou’s face instantly paled. “The Dragon of the West is here,” he breathed out, his hand trembling unbeknownst to him. He turned back to Wen and Kai. “Run!” he yelled. “Quickly!” He pushed them both behind him as he shot a multitude of spikes toward the flaming figure that now stood atop the hill.

“C-come on,” Kai stuttered, grabbing Wen’s hand. “Let’s get out of here.” He dragged her through the swarm of Earth Kingdom soldiers that were now fleeing for their lives. Their advance had been halted, their formation was shattered, and now it was clear that the entire Earth Kingdom army had degenerated into a full rout as soldiers blindly ran to the rear.

Absentmindedly, Wen’s gaze turned backward as she saw Da Gou, a semi-circle wall of protective earth around him, engulfed in a sea of flame, and his sharp shriek of pain filled her ears.

* * *

Mimi swallowed at the sight of the carnage. It was worse than she had ever expected, and she clutched her treasured book close to her heart. She did not know why she had felt like she needed to bring it, her treasured collection of Lu Ten’s poems and writings, but there was a tug that had led her here with it.

She quietly passed the Fire Nation soldiers that were still picking at the carcasses of the dead, examining them and looking for survivors. There was not much left apart from burnt foliage, black dirt, and the dead that filled the earth.

There was a Fire Nation soldier that looked up when he heard the crunch of rocks beneath her boots, and he approached her with a grim demeanor.

“Is there something I can help you with, ma’am?” the soldier asked. As a captain that was still nominally attached to Bubai Warriors, she distinctly outranked most of the soldiers in the army, and the one in front of her was no exception.

“I’m looking for Commander Lu Ten,” Mimi quickly requested. “I wish to speak with him.”

The soldier sharply inhaled, before pointing to a small hill in the distance. Miraculously, this hill had one single, lonesome tree that still stood strong, even though its fringes had been burnt and its trunk was pockmarked by rocks and stones. Without another word, the soldier quickly slipped away, leaving Mimi with an increasingly sinking feeling in her stomach as she stared at the tree.

As she approached it, a solitary figure came into view. It was kneeling a short distance from the base of the tree, head hung low.

It was General Iroh.

He had changed out of the dirtied armor of battle and into a clean and pristine uniform that dignified someone of his stature. But the man before Mimi was not the famed Dragon of the West, the great General Iroh. It was not even the Crown Prince Iroh, heir to the throne of the Fire Nation and its empire.

No, before her kneeled a man named Iroh, a father who had lost his dearly beloved son.

Mimi felt her throat constrict, the silence deafening as the future she had once envisioned shattered into a million irreparable pieces. Her heart was gone, broken and buried with her lover.

“My son,” Iroh spoke up, his tone unlike any that she had ever heard from the man. It was the voice of a man who spoke of ruin and despair, a hopelessness that would seemingly never end. “My son is dead. He has passed from this world into the great beyond, and I am no longer able to see my son.”

“Your Highness,” Mimi immediately said, referring to his royalty rather than his military rank, “I am… I am sorry for your loss.”

Iroh was silent for a moment. Suddenly, with the ferocity of an angry dragon, he stood up and whipped around. “My loss?” he roared; his voice raised to cry out to all the heavens. “Where were you? You were Lu Ten’s guard, the captain I had placed to ensure his life. You were to trade yours for his. Why didn’t you?” He advanced on her with each sharp rebuke until they were chest-to-chest, the average-height general still towering over her with his immense, dominant presence.

“Why did you not give your life for his?” Iroh asked again, his voice lower but equally threatening.

There was a pause.

Mimi took a deep breath.

Her hand slid unconsciously to her womb, as if to cradle the life that it contained.

Iroh’s eyes followed the small movement, widening as he realized the implications.

“I- I wanted to follow him into battle,” Mimi finally responded, her voice cracking as tears rolled down her cheeks. “I wanted to fight beside him. I was ready to die for him, not just as his captain, but as his lover. But…” she trailed off.

A pregnant pause.

“It is his?” Iroh asked, his voice losing all emotion.

“Yes,” she whispered.

Iroh’s jaw tightened, his eyes flicking around as he tried to process this new, crucial piece of information that seemed to recontextualize the new world he now found himself in. Eventually, he let out a deep breath and backed away from Mimi.

“Go,” he murmured, his body almost sagging as he lost strength. “Go and begone from my sight. I never want to see you again. Never return to the Fire Nation. Never let me find the child.”

Mimi’s mouth opened, as if she wanted to say something, to plead, to argue, to thank him for this final command, but in the end, she could not find those words. Instead, she bowed her head, but just as she was about to turn to leave, she realized that she was still holding Lu Ten’s collection.

“Here,” she said as calmly as she could. “Lu Ten wanted you to have this… one day.”

Without blinking, Iroh quickly took the folder and opened it to its first page, his eyes examining the first piece of poetry Lu Ten ever had Mimi read. He remained unblinking even as large drops of tears fell from his eyes, wetting the parchment that he read. Iroh blinked once and extended the folder back to Mimi.

“Keep it,” he uttered, a tremor not present earlier now pervading his words. “I have a lifetime of memories; this is all you will have left.” What he left unspoken was understood between them both, and Mimi accepted the folder without any words. Iroh quickly turned and faced the tree as he kneeled once more in front of the crude grave marker, and Mimi herself turned to leave behind the only life she had ever known.

_May the child be free from the burden that claimed the father_.

As she walked down the hill, she heard a haunted voice sing in a delicate tone that she could never have thought possible from the man it emanated from. It echoed across the ruined land, filling her ears as she walked toward the new world that a new life would bring; a new world far from the horrors of war, and a new life free from the threats of power.

“ _Leaves from the vine… falling so slow…_ "

* * *

Kai gasped, his face caked in dirt and his armor bent and buckling in places it was not meant to. But he registered none of that as he took a deep breath of air.

“Wen,” he breathed, his chest heaving and his throat parched. “Wen, where are you?”

A fit of coughing just a few bodies away alerted him, and he turned to see Wen standing up, looking the worse for wear just as he was. Still, she was alive and he was alive and that was more than he had any right to ask for from Agni.

“Are you okay?” she asked him in a hoarse voice, quickly stumbling over to him. She landed on his shoulder and coughed more, but most of the ash and smoke they had inhaled during the battle was out of their systems, and the wind seemed to have blown much of it away when they were unconscious.

“More or less,” he murmured in response, cracking a small smile for the first time in what seemed like an eternity. He had a split lip, but he ignored the sharp pain as he let the joy of still being alive wash over him.

“Who won the battle?” she asked, looking around. There was nothing but death and destruction littering the land outside of the Inner Wall.

Kai sighed as he took in the same view. “No one, maybe.” Wen looked at him. “I don’t see how anyone wins from this.”

Wen slowly nodded. “Yeah.”

The two of them leaned on each other in silence for a few moments, standing together against the wind and the elements. There was nothing to say and nothing to be said. For Kai, this was the end of his life, the only life he had ever known – he had taken up arms against the Fire Nation, and there was no way he could ever, in good conscience, return to the land he once called home and find peace in his heart. That life was dead, gone and buried.

“I don’t feel like I can go home anymore,” Wen whispered, startling Kai with her words. “This…” she gestured vaguely, “this has changed me. More than I can even think about right now.”

“I think I know what you mean,” he replied, slipping one arm around her back and its hand onto her far shoulder. She looked up at him with an amicable expression. “I can’t go home either, not anymore. And I don’t think I want to either.”

“Yeah, that’s it.”

There was a long pause as they took in the sight of the sun, now beginning to set beyond the hills and plains to the west, beyond the broken Outer Wall of Ba Sing Se, beyond the great Si Wong Desert and mountains of the continent, beyond the great sea that separated lands and peoples from coming together as one.

They had prevailed through so much, and they had done it together.

“Let’s… leave,” Kai spoke up. “Let’s just go somewhere and leave this all behind. This war, this long, meaningless war, let’s put it behind us.”

Wen was silent, and for a few moments, Kai feared that he had overstepped, that he had misjudged what existed between them. What even existed between them? Kai himself was not sure – it was _something_ , no doubt, but what it truly was eluded his ability to enunciate.

“Yes,” she finally responded, looking up at him with a faint smile. “Let’s.”

Kai let himself smile – a true, full smile, teeth and all – as joy leapt in his heart. Hope was in the air. He and Wen, each supporting the other as they moved forward, walked toward the setting sun.

Toward a new future and life that they could create together.

* * *

_**Fin** _

**Author's Note:**

> Units of measurement are “Chinese length units effective in 1930” according to Wikipedia, since those are converted into easily rememberable lengths in the metric system and, less easily, in the modern U.S. customary system.
> 
> For reference:
> 
> 1 li = 1/2 kilometer = ~1/3 mile
> 
> 1 chi = 1/3 meter = ~1 foot
> 
> If enough people would prefer me to use metric or customary units instead, I will consider changing them. Otherwise, I will continue using these two units to denote measures of length.


End file.
